Neural mechanisms for the abstraction and use of pitch information in auditory cortex

J Neurosci. 2012 Sep 26;32(39):13339-42. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3814-12.2012.

Abstract

Experiments in animals have provided an important complement to human studies of pitch perception by revealing how the activity of individual neurons represents harmonic complex and periodic sounds. Such studies have shown that the acoustical parameters associated with pitch are represented by the spiking responses of neurons in A1 (primary auditory cortex) and various higher auditory cortical fields. The responses of these neurons are also modulated by the timbre of sounds. In marmosets, a distinct region on the low-frequency border of primary and non-primary auditory cortex may provide pitch tuning that generalizes across timbre classes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Animals
  • Auditory Cortex / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping*
  • Electrophysiology
  • Evoked Potentials, Auditory / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Pitch Discrimination
  • Pitch Perception / physiology*