Automatic brain responses to pitch changes in congenital amusia.
Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder affecting the processing of pitch. This pitch deficit can be traced down to abnormal brain responses elicited by pitch changes smaller than a semitone in conditions requiring attention. Here, we use the mismatch negativity (MMN) to investigate pre-attentive pitch change detection in 10 amusics and eight matched controls. Results indicate similar MMN in amusics and controls, even for an eighth of a tone change, revealing that the amusic brain can process small pitch changes at a pre-attentive level. Thus, the pitch deficit in congenital amusia may be related to a problem of perceptual awareness.
Moreau
Patricia
P
BRAMS, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. patricia.moreau@umontreal.ca
Jolicoeur
Pierre
P
Peretz
Isabelle
I
D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*