Bridging the Gap between Perceptual and Cognitive Perspectives on Absolute Pitch

Abstract

Absolute pitch (AP) refers to the rare ability to identify the chroma of a tone or to produce a specific pitch without reference to keyality (e.g., G or C). Previously, AP has been proposed to rely on the distinctive functional-anatomical architecture of the left auditory-related cortex (ARC), this specific trait possibly enabling an optimized early "categorical perception". In contrast, currently prevailing models of AP postulate that cognitive rather than perceptual processes, namely "pitch labeling" mechanisms, more likely constitute the bearing skeleton of AP. This associative memory component has previously been proposed to be dependent, among other mechanisms, on the recruitment of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) as well as on the integrity of the left arcuate fasciculus, a fiber bundle linking the posterior supratemporal plane with the DLPFC. Here, we attempted to integrate these two apparently conflicting perspectives on AP, namely early "categorical perception" and "pitch labeling". We used electroencephalography and evaluated resting-state intracranial functional connectivity between the left ARC and DLPFC in a sample of musicians with and without AP. Results demonstrate significantly increased left-hemispheric theta phase synchronization in AP compared with non-AP musicians. Within the AP group, this specific electrophysiological marker was predictive of absolute-hearing behavior and explained ϳ30% of variance. Thus, we propose that in AP subjects the tonal inputs and the corresponding mnemonic representations are tightly coupled in such a manner that the distinctive electrophysiological signature of AP can saliently be detected in only 3 min of resting-state measurements.

Top–down signal transmission and global hyperconnectivity in auditory‐visual synesthesia: Evidence from a functional EEG resting‐state study

“…sLORETA source estimation is based on the smoothest solution of the inverse problem as the most plausible one [Pascual‐Marqui, ]. Centroid voxels of BAs are thus highly representative for the overall activity in the corresponding BAs and were also used in other studies of our research group [Elmer et al, ; Jäncke and Langer, ; Klein et al, ].…”

Psilocybin-induced spiritual experiences and insightfulness are associated with synchronization of neuronal oscillations

“…Thus, it removes the instantaneous component, which is driven by non-physiological effects and intrinsic physical artifacts that occur due to volume conduction and low spatial resolution (Nolte et al 2004;Stam et al 2007;Schoffelen and Gross 2009;Pascual-Marqui et al 2011). Accordingly, lagged phase synchronization has been increasingly used in recent studies (Canuet et al 2011;Hilty et al 2011;Canuet et al 2012;Guggisberg et al 2014;Kühnis et al 2014;Olbrich et al 2014;Ramyead et al 2014;Steinmann et al 2014;Elmer et al 2015;Vecchio et al, 2015) and has received cross-modal validation by studies combining EEG-based lagged phase synchronization measurements with MRI-based diffusion tensor imaging (Vecchio et al 2015).…”

Resting state functional connectivity of the ventral auditory pathway in musicians with absolute pitch

“…Because the DLPFC was also found to be correlated with learning associations between a verbal label and musical harmony [Bermudez and Zatorre, 2005], it was suggested to be involved in the "associative process." Moreover, integration of the two processes was demonstrated by phase coupling between the source activities of the DLPFC and superior temporal gyrus (STG), which were reconstructed from electroencephalography (EEG) data [Elmer et al, 2015] and by greater fractional anisotropy (FA; an index of the directionality of a diffusion tensor) of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) [Oechslin et al, 2009], an important axonal connection of the dorsal auditory pathway.…”

“…Therefore, it can be expected that the left PP in an individual with proficient AP would also be involved in nonspatial information processing, which the right PP undertakes. This could result in increased interhemispheric FC between two homologous auditory cortices, in addition to the common communication between bilateral auditory cortices in non‐AP musicians. As largely accepted [Levitin, ; Levitin and Rogers, ; Schulze et al, ], if the perceptual and associative processes of AP perception are localized in the temporal and frontal structures, respectively, integration of the two parts is crucial for the successful realization of AP [Elmer et al, ]. In particular, the ventral auditory pathway from PAC, via PP, to the VLPFC is expected to show greater RSFC in relation to the acuity of AP.…”

“…Because the PT is known as an important nonprimary auditory cortex in relation to pitch salience [Griffiths and Warren, ; Hall and Plack, ], this was interpreted as being involved in the “perceptual process.” In addition, greater BOLD activation in musicians with AP was found in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) [Zatorre et al, ]. Because the DLPFC was also found to be correlated with learning associations between a verbal label and musical harmony [Bermudez and Zatorre, ], it was suggested to be involved in the “associative process.” Moreover, integration of the two processes was demonstrated by phase coupling between the source activities of the DLPFC and superior temporal gyrus (STG), which were reconstructed from electroencephalography (EEG) data [Elmer et al, ] and by greater fractional anisotropy (FA; an index of the directionality of a diffusion tensor) of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) [Oechslin et al, ], an important axonal connection of the dorsal auditory pathway.…”