Cortical and subcortical sides of auditory rhythms and pitches.
It is commonly assumed that different perceptual qualities arising from sensory stimuli depend on their physical nature being transformed by specific peripheral receptors, for example, colour, vibration or heat. A notable unexplained exception is the low and high repetition rates of any sound perceived as rhythm or pitch, respectively. Using auditory discrimination learning in bilaterally auditory cortex ablated animals, we demonstrate that the perceptual quality of sounds depends on the way the brain processes stimuli rather than on their physical nature. In this context, cortical and subcortical processing steps have different roles in analysing different aspects of sounds with the complete analysis accomplished not before information converges in the auditory cortex.
Deutscher
Anke
A
Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany.
Kurt
Simone
S
Scheich
Henning
H
Schulze
Holger
H
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001931:Brain Mapping; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods; D003051:Cochlea / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005849:Gerbillinae; D010507:Periodicity; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*