Evidence for Linear but Not Helical Automatic Representation of Pitch in the Human Auditory System

Abstract

The perceptual organization of pitch is frequently described as helical, with a monotonic dimension of pitch height and a circular dimension of pitch chroma, accounting for the repeating structure of the octave. Although the neural representation of pitch height is widely studied, the way in which pitch chroma representation is manifested in neural activity is currently debated. We tested the automaticity of pitch chroma processing using the MMN—an ERP component indexing automatic detection of deviations from auditory regularity. Musicians trained to classify pure or complex tones across four octaves, based on chroma—C versus G (21 participants, Experiment 1) or C versus F# (27, Experiment 2). Next, they were passively exposed to MMN protocols designed to test automatic detection of height and chroma deviations. Finally, in an “attend chroma” block, participants had to detect the chroma deviants in a sequence similar to the passive MMN sequence. The chroma deviant tones were accurately detected in the training and the attend chroma parts both for pure and complex tones, with a slightly better performance for complex tones. However, in the passive blocks, a significant MMN was found only to height deviations and complex tone chroma deviations, but not to pure tone chroma deviations, even for perfect performers in the active tasks. These results indicate that, although height is represented preattentively, chroma is not. Processing the musical dimension of chroma may require higher cognitive processes, such as attention and working memory.

Context sensitivity across multiple time scales with a flexible frequency bandwidth

“…Using a passive paradigm allowed us to investigate neural effects that are elicited automatically and do not depend directly on attention or on any active task. In Experiments 1 and 2 we analyzed the control conditions from a previously published study (Regev et al, 2019) (the published study included also conditions involving rare deviants, which were the focus of that study; We do not analyze these conditions here as we focus on equiprobable sequences). The sequences from Experiment 1 and 2 we report here had a relatively wide frequency range (32 and 34 semitones between lowest and highest tones used in the sequence, respectively, Figure 1B, Methods).…”

“…One block type from Experiment 2 of Regev et al (2019) (which served as a control condition in the previous study) was used for the current study. This condition included 5 tones with equal probabilities: Db4, C5, F#5, D6 andB6 (277.9, 523.2, 740, 1174.7, and1975.6 Hz, respectively).…”

“…Eighty-nine healthy adults participated in all 3 experiments -25 musicians, 29 musicians, and non-musicians in Experiments 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The reason musicians participated in Experiments 1 and 2 is not relevant to the current study and is explained in (Regev et al, 2019). Participants were recruited from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design or the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and could either receive 40 NIS (~12 US$) per hour or course credit for participation in the experiment.…”

“…We investigated context-dependent auditory processing not involving deviance-detection mechanisms by measuring EEG responses to tone sequences in which all stimuli were equiprobable and task-irrelevant. First, we address data from the control conditions of two experiments (1 and 2) previously published (Regev et al, 2019). We observed in these data that the N1 and P2 event-related EEG components (peaking ~100 and ~180ms following stimulus presentation, respectively) were sensitive to past frequencies across distinct time scales.…”

Auditory Perception: Relative Universals for Musical Pitch

“…This suggests some form of 'octave equivalence'. Past evidence has shown that perceptual sensitivity to octave equivalence may have inborn roots [7] but depends on musical practice or exposure in Western adult listeners [8,9]. In the Jacoby et al [4] study, Western listeners, especially musicians, tended to preserve pitch class in their sung responses: for instance, if the interval to sing back was C-D, a whole tone, not only did participants sing back a whole tone (D-E, G-A, and so on) but they were statistically more likely to sing back C-D.…”