TY - JOUR

T1 - Pitch coding and pitch processing in the human brain

AU - Plack, Christopher J.

AU - Barker, Daphne

AU - Hall, Deborah A.

PY - 2014/1

Y1 - 2014/1

N2 - Neuroimaging studies have provided important information regarding how and where pitch is coded and processed in the human brain. Recordings of the frequency-following response (FFR), an electrophysiological measure of neural temporal coding in the brainstem, have shown that the precision of temporal pitch information is dependent on linguistic and musical experience, and can even be modified by short-term training. However, the FFR does not seem to represent the output of a pitch extraction process, and this raises questions regarding how the peripheral neural signal is processed to produce a unified sensation. Since stimuli with a wide variety of spectral and binaural characteristics can produce the same pitch, it has been suggested that there is a place in the ascending auditory pathway at which the representations converge. There is evidence from many different human neuroimaging studies that certain areas of auditory cortex are specifically sensitive to pitch, although the location is still a matter of debate. Taken together, the results suggest that the initial temporal pitch code in the auditory periphery is converted to a code based on neural firing rate in the brainstem. In the upper brainstem or auditory cortex, the information from the individual harmonics of complex tones is combined to form a general representation of pitch. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled .

AB - Neuroimaging studies have provided important information regarding how and where pitch is coded and processed in the human brain. Recordings of the frequency-following response (FFR), an electrophysiological measure of neural temporal coding in the brainstem, have shown that the precision of temporal pitch information is dependent on linguistic and musical experience, and can even be modified by short-term training. However, the FFR does not seem to represent the output of a pitch extraction process, and this raises questions regarding how the peripheral neural signal is processed to produce a unified sensation. Since stimuli with a wide variety of spectral and binaural characteristics can produce the same pitch, it has been suggested that there is a place in the ascending auditory pathway at which the representations converge. There is evidence from many different human neuroimaging studies that certain areas of auditory cortex are specifically sensitive to pitch, although the location is still a matter of debate. Taken together, the results suggest that the initial temporal pitch code in the auditory periphery is converted to a code based on neural firing rate in the brainstem. In the upper brainstem or auditory cortex, the information from the individual harmonics of complex tones is combined to form a general representation of pitch. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled .

KW - FREQUENCY-FOLLOWING RESPONSES

KW - HUMAN AUDITORY-CORTEX

KW - COMPLEX TONES

KW - CORTICAL REPRESENTATIONS

KW - NEUROMAGNETIC RESPONSES

KW - NEURAL REPRESENTATION

KW - TEMPORAL REGULARITY

KW - MUSICAL PITCH

KW - HESCHLS GYRUS

KW - STEM

U2 - 10.1016/j.heares.2013.07.020

DO - 10.1016/j.heares.2013.07.020

M3 - Literature review

C2 - 23938209

VL - 307

SP - 53

EP - 64

JO - Hearing Research

JF - Hearing Research

SN - 0378-5955

ER -