Human auditory cortical responses to pitch and to pitch strength

Barker, Daphne and Plack, Christopher J. and Hall, Deborah A. (2011) Human auditory cortical responses to pitch and to pitch strength. NeuroReport, 22 (3). pp. 111-115. ISSN 0959-4965

Abstract

Pitch is a fundamental auditory sensation, underlying both music and speech perception. This study was designed to explore pitch coding in human auditory cortex by testing whether activity in pitch-responsive regions covaries as a function of pitch salience (pitch strength). A psychophysical paradigm was used to confirm three levels of pitch salience for two different pitch-evoking stimuli. The location and magnitude of the response to these stimuli were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. A pitch response was found in planum temporale, close to the posterolateral border of Heschl's gyrus. However, the response was not sensitive to pitch salience. One interpretation is that pitch-sensitive regions are maximally responsive to the presence or absence of pitch and not to pitch salience.