Journal
CEREBRAL CORTEX
Volume 24, Issue 5, Pages 1127-1137Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhs391
Keywords
Heschls gyrus; magnetoencephalography MEG; musicians; planum temporale; functional magnetic resonance imaging
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Funding
- Olympia-Morata Program of the Heidelberg Medical Faculty
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Absolute pitch (AP) perception is the auditory ability to effortlessly recognize the pitch of any given tone without external reference. To study the neural substrates of this rare phenomenon, we developed a novel behavioral test, which excludes memory-based interval recognition and permits quantification of AP proficiency independently of relative pitch cues. AP- and non-AP-possessing musicians were studied with morphological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography. Gray matter volume of the right Heschls gyrus (HG) was highly correlated with AP proficiency. Right-hemispheric auditory evoked fields were increased in the AP group. fMRI revealed an AP-dependent network of right planum temporale, secondary somatosensory, and premotor cortices, as well as left-hemispheric Brocas area. We propose the right HG as an anatomical marker of AP and suggest that a right-hemispheric network mediates AP perception, whereas pitch labeling takes place in the left hemisphere.
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