TY - JOUR
T1 - A neural representation of pitch salience in nonprimary human auditory cortex revealed with functional magnetic resonance imaging
AU - Penagos, Hector
AU - Melcher, Jennifer R.
AU - Oxenham, Andrew J.
PY - 2004/7/28
Y1 - 2004/7/28
N2 - Pitch, one of the primary auditory percepts, is related to the temporal regularity or periodicity of a sound. Previous functional brain imaging work in humans has shown that the level of population neural activity in centers throughout the auditory system is related to the temporal regularity of a sound, suggesting a possible relationship to pitch. In the current study, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure activation in response to harmonic tone complexes whose temporal regularity was identical, but whose pitch salience (or perceptual pitch strength) differed, across conditions. Cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, and primary auditory cortex did not show significant differences in activation level between conditions. Instead, a correlate of pitch salience was found in the neural activity levels of a small, spatially localized region of nonprimary auditory cortex, overlapping the anterolateral end of Heschl's gyrus. The present data contribute to converging evidence that anterior areas of nonprimary auditory cortex play an important role in processing pitch.
AB - Pitch, one of the primary auditory percepts, is related to the temporal regularity or periodicity of a sound. Previous functional brain imaging work in humans has shown that the level of population neural activity in centers throughout the auditory system is related to the temporal regularity of a sound, suggesting a possible relationship to pitch. In the current study, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure activation in response to harmonic tone complexes whose temporal regularity was identical, but whose pitch salience (or perceptual pitch strength) differed, across conditions. Cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, and primary auditory cortex did not show significant differences in activation level between conditions. Instead, a correlate of pitch salience was found in the neural activity levels of a small, spatially localized region of nonprimary auditory cortex, overlapping the anterolateral end of Heschl's gyrus. The present data contribute to converging evidence that anterior areas of nonprimary auditory cortex play an important role in processing pitch.
KW - Auditory
KW - Cortex
KW - Functional imaging
KW - Hearing
KW - Perception
KW - Pitch
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=3342903449&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0383-04.2004
DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0383-04.2004
M3 - Article
C2 - 15282286
AN - SCOPUS:3342903449
SN - 0270-6474
VL - 24
SP - 6810
EP - 6815
JO - Journal of Neuroscience
JF - Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 30
ER -