Re: memory for pitch

[Martin Braun <nombraun@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Diana and others,

you wrote (Monday, May 22):

> ...... So at least where memory for the pitch of a
> single tone is concerned, performance appears to be substantially
> unrelated to rehearsal strategy, and appears to be the function of a
> low-level system that has characteristics which are very similar to
> the system that handles pitch information at the incoming level.

Your indications of a low-level system for the short-term memory of pitch is 
further supported by musical practice and by results of research in 
neurophysiology.

1) In music we experience consonance and dissonance not only for 
simultaneous tones, but also for non-simultaneous ones. When comparing the 
two series of tones C4-F4-A4-C5 and C4-F4-A4-C#5, the first one is perceived 
as more consonant than the second. Today we further assume that this 
sensitivity for "horizontal harmony" is due to the structure of the 
mammalian auditory brain, because also monkeys have it (Wright et al., 
2000).

In order to explain the sensory interaction of non-simultaneous tones, some 
kind of internal reverberation was suggested. Clearly, if the quality of 
interaction depends on acoustic frequency ratios, the interaction must occur 
at a level where neural signals still contain pitch-related periodicity 
information. The highest level where this information is still present is 
the auditory midbrain (colliculi inferiores).

2) Bob Zatorre and his team found in two positron emission tomographic 
studies (1994, 1996) that imagination of pitch of musical tones led to a 
significant activity increase also in the auditory midbrain (colliculi 
inferiores).


Zatorre, R.J., Evans, A.C., Meyer, E., 1994. Neural mechanisms underlying 
melodic perception and memory for pitch. J. Neurosci. 14, 1908-1919.

Zatorre, R.J., Halpern, A.R., Perry, D.W., Meyer, E., Evans, A.C., 1996. 
Hearing in the mind's ear: A PET investigation of musical imagery and 
perception. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 8, 29-46.

Wright, A.A., Rivera, J.J., Hulse, S.H., Shyan, M., Neiworth, J.J., 2000. 
Music perception and octave generalization in rhesus monkeys. J. Exp. 
Psychol. Gen. 129, 291-307.
[I wrote a short comment at: http://web.telia.com/~u57011259/Wright.htm ]

Cheers,

Martin

----------------------------
Martin Braun
Neuroscience of Music
S-671 95 Klässbol
Sweden
web site: http://w1.570.telia.com/~u57011259/index.htm