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Results for “Pitch Perception”

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PubMed2004

Implicit learning of musical timbre sequences: statistical regularities confronted with acoustical (dis)similarities.

The present study investigated the influence of acoustical characteristics on the implicit learning of statistical regularities (transition probabilities) in sequences of musical timbres. The sequences were constructed in such a way that the acoustical dissimilarities between timbres potentially created segmentations that either supported (S1) or contradicted (S2) the statistical regularities or were neutral (S3). In the learning group, participants first listened to the continuous timbre sequence and then had to distinguish statistical units from new units. In comparison to a control group without the exposition phase, no interaction between sequence type and amount of learning was observed: Performance increased by the same amount for the three sequences. In addition, performance reflected an overall preference for acoustically similar timbre units. The present outcome extends previous data from the domain of implicit learning to complex nonverbal auditory material. It further suggests that listeners become sensitive to statistical regularities despite acoustical characteristics in the material that potentially affect grouping.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1993

Single-unit activity in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala and overlying areas of the striatum in freely behaving rats: rates, discharge patterns, and responses to acoustic stimuli.

Acoustic responses of single units were examined in awake, freely behaving rats in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (AL). Recordings were made from a movable bundle of 9 microwires. Most cells had very low rates of spontaneous activity (about 3 spikes/s average). Firing rates increased during sleep states. Short-latency auditory responses (12-25 ms) were found in the dorsal subnucleus (ALd) of the AL. Cells in the ALd most typically responded in a sustained fashion. Some of the cells in the ALd showed preferences for high frequencies, tone bursts, or frequency-modulated stimuli with center frequencies above 12 kHz. Response latencies were considerably longer in other areas of the amygdala. Our results corroborate the main findings of a previous study (F. Bordi & J. LeDoux, 1992) that examined the acoustic response properties of single cells in the AL in anesthetized rats. Together the findings from awake and anesthetized rats provide the most precise information about sensory processing in amygdala neurons available to date.

Amygdala↗
PubMed1989

Infant preference for both male and female infant-directed talk: a developmental study of attentional and affective responsiveness.

This research increases our understanding of infants' preference for "motherese" by demonstrating that this preference extends to infant-directed talk (IDT) delivered by males as well as females and that infants show both more attentional responsiveness and more affective responsiveness to IDT than to adult-directed talk (ADT). Infants aged 4-5.5 and 7.5-9 months were shown video recordings of male and female adults reciting identical scripts in either IDT or ADT. Attentional preference was measured by the amount of time the infants watched in each condition, and affective responsiveness was measured by two trained raters. Overall, it was found that infants of both ages show greater attentional and affective responsiveness to IDT than to ADT when spoken by either a male or a female. The younger group was also found to be more responsive, on both measures, than the older group. Of perhaps greater significance, it was shown that the behaviour infants displayed in response to IDT makes them more attractive to naive adult judges. This suggests that IDT may facilitate and maintain positive adult-infant interactions.

Affect↗
PubMed2002

Brains out of tune.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Auditory Perceptual Disorders↗
PubMed2003

Absolute pitch: a model for understanding the influence of genes and development on neural and cognitive function.

Absolute pitch (AP), the ability to identify or produce the pitch of a sound without any reference point, is discussed here as a possible model system for understanding the neurobiology of complex cognitive functions. AP is of interest because it may reflect an atypical organization of sensory representations. Indications are that it depends on both genetic factors and exposure to musical training during childhood, supporting the idea of a sensitive period. Functional and structural neuroimaging studies suggest special roles for working memory and associative memory mechanisms in AP, and results from these studies indicate that there may be structural markers of AP in asymmetries of cortical areas. AP seems to depend on the nervous system's response to experiential, maturational and genetic factors, making it a good candidate model for understanding how these interactions play out in cognitive development generally.

Brain↗
PubMed2007

Sharpened cochlear tuning in a mouse with a genetically modified tectorial membrane.

Frequency tuning in the cochlea is determined by the passive mechanical properties of the basilar membrane and active feedback from the outer hair cells, sensory-effector cells that detect and amplify sound-induced basilar membrane motions. The sensory hair bundles of the outer hair cells are imbedded in the tectorial membrane, a sheet of extracellular matrix that overlies the cochlea's sensory epithelium. The tectorial membrane contains radially organized collagen fibrils that are imbedded in an unusual striated-sheet matrix formed by two glycoproteins, alpha-tectorin (Tecta) and beta-tectorin (Tectb). In Tectb(-/-) mice the structure of the striated-sheet matrix is disrupted. Although these mice have a low-frequency hearing loss, basilar-membrane and neural tuning are both significantly enhanced in the high-frequency regions of the cochlea, with little loss in sensitivity. These findings can be attributed to a reduction in the acting mass of the tectorial membrane and reveal a new function for this structure in controlling interactions along the cochlea.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

The musician's brain as a model of neuroplasticity.

Studies of experience-driven neuroplasticity at the behavioural, ensemble, cellular and molecular levels have shown that the structure and significance of the eliciting stimulus can determine the neural changes that result. Studying such effects in humans is difficult, but professional musicians represent an ideal model in which to investigate plastic changes in the human brain. There are two advantages to studying plasticity in musicians: the complexity of the eliciting stimulus music and the extent of their exposure to this stimulus. Here, we focus on the functional and anatomical differences that have been detected in musicians by modern neuroimaging methods.

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMed2001

Effects of frequency-shifted auditory feedback on fundamental frequency of long stressed and unstressed syllables.

Twenty-four normally speaking subjects had to utter the test word /tatatas/ with different stress patterns repeatedly. Auditory feedback was provided by head-phones and was shifted downwards in frequency during randomly selected trials while the subjects were speaking the complete test word. If the first syllable was long stressed, fundamental frequency of the vowel significantly increased by 2 Hz (corresponding to 25.5 cents) under frequency-shifted auditory feedback of .5 octave downwards, whereas under a shift of one semitone downwards a trend of an increase could be observed. If the first syllable was unstressed, fundamental frequency remained unaffected. Regarding the second syllable, significant increases or a trend for an increase of fundamental frequency was found in both shifting conditions. Results indicate a negative feedback mechanism that controls the fundamental frequency via auditory feedback in speech production. However, within a syllable a response could be found only if the syllable duration was long enough. Compensation for frequency-shifted auditory feedback still is quite imperfect. It is concluded that control of fundamental frequency is rather important on a suprasegmental level.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Effect of duration of pitch-shifted feedback on vocal responses in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Study of the pitch-shift reflex is useful for the investigation of how auditory feedback is used in the control of voice fundamental frequency. The present study was an attempt to learn if the basal ganglia are involved in central mechanisms of the pitch-shift reflex by comparing measures of the reflex in a group of Parkinson's disease patients with those measures in a group of control participants. The effect of varying duration of the pitch-shift stimulus (PSS) on the voice fundamental frequency (F0) response in 10 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 10 age-matched unaffected participants was investigated. Participants were instructed to vocalize into a microphone while their voice was fed back to them over headphones. This feedback of the vocal signal was shifed in pitch either up or down, with the duration of this shift systematically manipulated at 100 ms, 500 ms, and 1000 ms. Although the participants were on medication, making interpretation of the results problematic with regard to basal ganglia function, it was reasoned that positive effects could nevertheless suggest basal ganglia involvement in this reflex and motivate further research. Results indicated that both groups responded to increased stimulus duration of the pitch-shift stimulus with increases in reflex peak time, magnitude, and end times. However, PD patients had significantly longer peak times and end times than control participants for stimulus durations of 100 ms. These results suggest that basal ganglia dysfunction may affect mechanisms relating to the execution and termination of the pitch-shift reflex for brief stimulus durations. The results also support hypotheses of impaired sensory integration of auditory feedback in PD patients.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Frequency discrimination deficits in people with specific language impairment: reliability, validity, and linguistic correlates.

The reliability and validity of a frequency discrimination (FD) task were tested in 16 people with specific language impairment (SLI) and 16 people with normal spoken language (controls). The FD thresholds of the 2 groups indicated that FD thresholds for 25-ms and 250-ms tones were remarkably stable across 18 months. The FD thresholds were lower for control listeners than for listeners with SLI for both duration conditions, and the FD thresholds for both groups of listeners were lower for 250-ms tones than for 25-ms tones. Moreover, the FD thresholds were influenced little by nonperceptual, task-related abilities (e.g., paired-associative learning, memory for temporal order, sustained attention, and control of attention) of the listener groups. The significant group difference between the mean FD thresholds of the SLI and control groups was explained by a subgroup of people with SLI who had particularly poor thresholds compared with those of controls and the majority of the SLI group. This subgroup did not differ from the remainder of the SLI sample in terms of age or nonverbal ability but was characterized by very poor reading that was associated with poor phonemic awareness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The effects of high-frequency amplification on the objective and subjective performance of hearing instrument users with varying degrees of high-frequency hearing loss.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study was to determine if amplifying beyond 2 kHz affected the objective and subjective performance of hearing instrument users with varying degrees of mild-to-severe high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. METHOD: Twenty participants were fitted binaurally with digital completely-in-the-canal devices with 4-channel wide dynamic range compression (Starkey Axent). Each participant used the hearing instruments for two 6-week trial periods. Each hearing instrument was programmed to maximize high-frequency audibility during 1 trial period and minimize high-frequency audibility during the other trial period. Objective evaluations were conducted in quiet using the Connected Speech Test (CST) and in noise using the CST and the Hearing in Noise Test. Subjective performance was evaluated by administering the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit and a questionnaire. RESULTS: Results indicated that high-frequency amplification significantly improved objective performance in noise and subjective preference in quiet for listeners with varying degrees of mild-to-severe high-frequency hearing loss. Results also suggested that high-frequency amplification may affect subjective preference in noise and overall for listeners with varying degrees of mild-to-severe high-frequency hearing loss when feedback is eliminated. CONCLUSION: Based on these significant benefits, dispensers should be aware that high-frequency amplification should, at least initially, be provided to the affected high-frequency regions when mild-to-severe hearing loss is present.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2006

Stability of low-frequency residual hearing in patients who are candidates for combined acoustic plus electric hearing.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the stability over time of low-frequency auditory thresholds to better determine if the new technique of using a short-electrode cochlear implant that preserves residual low-frequency acoustic hearing can be a long-term solution for those with severe-to-profound hearing loss at high frequencies. The present study determined the long-term rate of decline in acoustic hearing in patients who have a preexisting hearing loss yet have not been implanted with a cochlear implant. A retrospective analysis of patients' audiograms that fit into the range for candidacy for the short-electrode device was performed to calculate the rate of change of threshold over time. The analysis of adult patients' data indicated that there was an average of only 1.05 dB hearing deterioration per year in the low frequencies and that presbycusis accounted for approximately one third to one half of this decline. The average deterioration of hearing threshold for pediatric patients was 1.2 dB per year; however, the rates of change in pediatric patients were considerably more variable (across individuals and across frequencies) than in adults. These data provide support for the idea that the short-electrode cochlear implant may be a practical solution for most adults in the long run, but this may not be the case for all pediatric patients.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1989

Factors influencing fundamental frequency range estimates in children.

Selected elicitation conditions were manipulated to determine their effect on fundamental frequency (Fo) range estimates in children. Forty normal children each responded to five autiotaped tone conditions: (a) discrete steps, (b) slow steps, (c) fast steps, (d) slow glissando, and (e) fast glissando. These tonal stimuli were devised to elicit each child's maximal and minimal Fo. The traditional discrete-steps condition was associated with a lower maximal Fo, higher minimal Fo, and a more restricted Fo range than all other conditions.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

Auditory frequency selectivity in normal and presbycusic subjects.

Auditory frequency selectivity was inferred from measurements of the detectability of tonal signals as a function of the cutoff frequency of a low-pass computer-generated noise masker. In Experiment I the effect of small changes in signal-to-noise ratio on inferred auditory frequency selectivity was studied. In Experiment II, frequency selectivity was determined for five normal-hearing subjects and four subjects with sensorineural hearing loss due to presbycusis. Critical ratios (signal-to-noise ratio at masked threshold) also were determined in Experiment II. The results of Experiment I indicate that the low-pass masking experiment provides a stable estimate of the width, but not the position, of the critical masking band. Experiment II revealed elevated critical ratios for three of the four presbycusic subjects. Some hearing-impaired subjects appeared to have normal frequency selectivity despite elevated critical ratios. Other presbycusic subjects demonstrated impaired auditory frequency selectivity. The results suggest that critical ratio and critical masking band data are free to vary independently in hearing-impaired subjects.

Auditory Threshold↗