Report Human Screams Occupy a Privileged Niche in the Communication Soundscape Highlights d We provide the first evidence of a special acoustic regime (‘‘roughness’’) for screams d Roughness is used in both natural and artificial alarm signals d Roughness confers a behavioral advantage to react rapidly and efficiently d Acoustic roughness selectively activates amygdala, involved in danger processing Authors Luc H. Arnal, Adeen Flinker, Andreas Kleinschmidt, Anne-Lise Giraud, David Poeppel Correspondence luc.h.arnal@gmail.com (L.H.A.), david.poeppel@nyu.edu (D.P.) In Brief Arnal et al. show that, unlike speech, screams exploit a privileged acoustic attribute: ‘‘roughness.’’ Sounds in this modulation regime specifically target subcortical brain areas involved in danger processing and improve behavior in various ways, suggesting that this acoustic niche may be preserved to insure efficient warning. Arnal et al., 2015, Current Biology 25, 2051–2056 August 3, 2015 ª2015 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.043