Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Pitch processing sites in the human auditory brain
AU - Hall, Deborah A.
AU - Plack, Christopher J.
PY - 2009/3
Y1 - 2009/3
N2 - Lateral Heschl's gyrus (HG), a subdivision of the human auditory cortex, is commonly believed to represent a general "pitch center," responding selectively to the pitch of sounds, irrespective of their spectral characteristics. However, most neuroimaging investigations have used only one specialized pitch-evoking stimulus: iterated-ripple noise (IRN). The present study used a novel experimental design in which a range of different pitch-evoking stimuli were presented to the same listeners. Pitch sites were identified by searching for voxels that responded well to the range of pitch-evoking stimuli. The first result suggested that parts of the planum temporale are more relevant for pitch processing than lateral HG. In some listeners, pitch responses occurred elsewhere, such as the temporo-parieto-occipital junction or prefrontal cortex. The second result demonstrated a different pattern of response to the IRN and raises the possibility that features of IRN unrelated to pitch might contribute to the earlier results. In conclusion, it seems premature to assign special status to lateral HG solely on the basis of neuroactivation patterns. Further work should consider the functional roles of these multiple pitch processing sites within the proposed network.
AB - Lateral Heschl's gyrus (HG), a subdivision of the human auditory cortex, is commonly believed to represent a general "pitch center," responding selectively to the pitch of sounds, irrespective of their spectral characteristics. However, most neuroimaging investigations have used only one specialized pitch-evoking stimulus: iterated-ripple noise (IRN). The present study used a novel experimental design in which a range of different pitch-evoking stimuli were presented to the same listeners. Pitch sites were identified by searching for voxels that responded well to the range of pitch-evoking stimuli. The first result suggested that parts of the planum temporale are more relevant for pitch processing than lateral HG. In some listeners, pitch responses occurred elsewhere, such as the temporo-parieto-occipital junction or prefrontal cortex. The second result demonstrated a different pattern of response to the IRN and raises the possibility that features of IRN unrelated to pitch might contribute to the earlier results. In conclusion, it seems premature to assign special status to lateral HG solely on the basis of neuroactivation patterns. Further work should consider the functional roles of these multiple pitch processing sites within the proposed network.
KW - lateral Heschl's gyrus
KW - perceptual invariance
KW - planum temporale
KW - CORTICAL REPRESENTATIONS
KW - TEMPORAL STRUCTURE
KW - PLANUM TEMPORALE
KW - DYNAMIC RIPPLES
KW - HUGGINS PITCH
KW - CORTEX
KW - SPEECH
KW - SOUND
KW - PERIODICITY
KW - PERCEPTION
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=59749102618&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/cercor/bhn108
DO - 10.1093/cercor/bhn108
M3 - Journal article
VL - 19
SP - 576
EP - 585
JO - Cerebral Cortex
JF - Cerebral Cortex
SN - 1047-3211
IS - 3
ER -