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. 2019 Feb 5;9(1):1419.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-38273-0.

Early tone categorization in absolute pitch musicians is subserved by the right-sided perisylvian brain

Anja Burkhard  1 , Stefan Elmer  2 , Lutz Jäncke  2   3
Affiliations

Early tone categorization in absolute pitch musicians is subserved by the right-sided perisylvian brain

Anja Burkhard et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Absolute pitch (AP) is defined as the ability to identify and label tones without reference to keyality. In this context, the main question is whether early or late processing stages are responsible for this ability. We investigated the electrophysiological responses to tones in AP and relative pitch (RP) possessors while participants listened attentively to sine tones. Since event-related potentials are particularly suited for tracking tone encoding (N100 and P200), categorization (N200), and mnemonic functions (N400), we hypothesized that differences in early pitch processing stages would be reflected by increased N100 and P200-related areas in AP musicians. Otherwise, differences in later cognitive stages of tone processing should be mirrored by increased N200 and/or N400 areas in AP musicians. AP possessors exhibited larger N100 areas and a tendency towards enhanced P200 areas. Furthermore, the sources of these components were estimated and statistically compared between the two groups for a set of a priori defined regions of interest. AP musicians demonstrated increased N100-related current densities in the right superior temporal sulcus, middle temporal gyrus, and Heschl's gyrus. Results are interpreted as indicating that early between-group differences in right-sided perisylvian brain regions might reflect auditory tone categorization rather than labelling mechanisms.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of AP scores (red: AP group, blue: RP group). The black dashed line represents the chance level (8.3%). On the left side, the distributions of APP and RPP are displayed with the corresponding dashed lines representing the means. On the right side, AP scores of all participants are depicted separately.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Experimental design. (a) Representation of a single tone trial. (b) Sequence of a whole presentation unit. (c) Continuous noise block.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ERPs and topographic scalp maps for the different components of interest. ERPs for the APPs are coloured in red and those for the RPPs in blue. Darker colours represent the IT condition and lighter colours the MT condition. (a) On the left, ERPs for the N100 and P200 components for electrode site Cz are shown. N200 and N400 at electrode site Fz are depicted on the right. (b) Topographic scalp maps for the components of interest and the different conditions (IT, MT) with the corresponding µV scales.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Source estimation for the peak amplitudes of the N100 component at 107 ms. Centroid voxels are located in the bilateral Heschl’s gyrus (MNI coordinates for the left hemisphere: x = −42, y = −23, z = 13; right: x = 43, y = −24, z = 13). Spatial smoothing was applied for visualization.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Time windows used for source reconstruction based on the global field power for the N100 (70–145 ms, green) and the P200 (145–275 ms, blue) components.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Nine ROIs were selected in each hemisphere. The names of the ROIs are depicted on the right with the corresponding colours.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Signed area values for the components of interest (N100, P200, N200, and N400). Means and standard errors of means are displayed. Values for the AP group (APP) are shown on the left while those for the RP group (RPP) are displayed on the right. Furthermore, amplitudes for the in tune (IT) condition are blue coloured while those for the mistuned (MT) condition are red. The unit for the signed area is µV*ms.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Source reconstructions in the AP and RP groups for the N100 and P200 components (z-transformed relative to the baseline). Source activations for the N100 are depicted on the left side, those for the P200 on the right side. The upper row shows the source activation for the AP group and the middle row for the RP group. In the bottom row, the differences between the source activations of the AP group and the RP group are displayed (AP group-RP group). Z-scores in the bottom row were thresholded at z = 2.1, which corresponds to a p-value of 0.01. Activations in the STS, MTG, and HG in the right hemisphere showed statistical differences between the two groups. Spatial smoothing was applied for visualization purposes.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Correlation between the AP score and the z transformed activation in the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) for the AP group.
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