Re: pitch neurons

[Chris Chambers <c.chambers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

Although pattern-matching theories like Terhardt's would seem to imply a
central origin to pitch perception (at least for complex tones),
pattern-matching theories do have limitations that I think limit their
utility in identifying neural origins. For instance, they don't do well
at explaining how complex tones comprised entirely of unresolved
harmonics can elicit virtual pitch; rather, the standard requirement for
pattern-matching models is that the system needs a resolvable harmonic as
a trace for pitch extraction...Going on the evidence so far (and I'm
referring to work by e.g. Houtsma & Smurzynski, 1990, JASA, 87
304-310, Carlyon & Shackleton, 1994, JASA, 95, 3541-3554;
Steinschneider et al. 1998, JASA, 104, 2935-2955) it looks as though
there are dual mechanisms, involving both temporal extraction and pattern
matching, with the latter involved mainly when there are resolvable
harmonics present. So one interesting question that comes out of this is
whether the "pitch" produced by these mechanisms is elicited at
the same neural level....


> In support of Eli's proposition
> that pitch is likely to be a central
> phenomenon, I want to bring up Terhardt's 1974 model (JASA) in which
> pitch
> develops by way of learning.
>
> Pierre

---

Christopher D. Chambers
Post-doctoral Research Fellow
Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
Department of Psychology
University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
AUSTRALIA

Office Tel.  +61 3 8344 3684
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email: c.chambers@psych.unimelb.edu.au