New findings on absolute pitch
Neuropsychologists at the University of Zurich (UZH) have discovered a close functional coupling between the auditory cortex in the brain and the forebrain in absolute listeners. A finding that is not only of theoretical but also practical importance.
In a recent study by the Music Lab at the Department of Neuropsychology at UZH under the direction of Lutz Jäncke, findings have been made with musicians who can hear perfectly, which, according to first author Stefan Elmer, open up a new perspective on the underlying psychological and neurophysiological processes. It combines two opposing approaches to explaining the phenomenon.
One line of explanation assumes that absolute listeners categorize sounds at a very early stage of sound processing, process sounds in the same way as speech sounds and assign them to specific categories. This theory therefore assumes that sounds are already processed in the primary and secondary auditory cortex of absolute listeners. Another theory postulates that absolute listeners are particularly good at unconsciously assigning sounds to memory information; these assignments are primarily made in the upper frontal brain, in the dorsal frontal cortex.
In his study, Stefan Elmer can now show that the left-sided auditory cortex and the left-sided dorsal frontal cortex are already functionally strongly coupled in the resting state. In absolute listeners, the neurophysiological activities in the frontal and auditory cortex are synchronized, which suggests a close functional coupling. According to Elmer, this coupling favors a particularly efficient exchange of information between the auditory cortex and the dorsal frontal cortex in absolute listeners.
Original article:
Stefan Elmer, Lars Rogenmoser, Jürg Kühnis and Lutz Jäncke: "Bridging the gap between perceptual and cognitive perspectives on absolute pitch". The Journal of Neuroscience, January 6, 2015. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3009-14.2015
