title: Hemispheric lateralization for early auditory processing of lexical tones: dependence on pitch level and pitch contour.
abstract: In Mandarin Chinese, a tonal language, pitch level and pitch contour are two dimensions of lexical tones according to their acoustic features (i.e., pitch patterns). A change in pitch level features a step change whereas that in pitch contour features a continuous variation in voice pitch. Currently, relatively little is known about the hemispheric lateralization for the processing of each dimension. To address this issue, we made whole-head electrical recordings of mismatch negativity in native Chinese speakers in response to the contrast of Chinese lexical tones in each dimension. We found that pre-attentive auditory processing of pitch level was obviously lateralized to the right hemisphere whereas there is a tendency for that of pitch contour to be lateralized to the left. We also found that the brain responded faster to pitch level than to pitch contour at a pre-attentive stage. These results indicate that the hemispheric lateralization for early auditory processing of lexical tones depends on the pitch level and pitch contour, and suggest an underlying inter-hemispheric interactive mechanism for the processing.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 637332 Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Hemispheric lateralization; Lexical tone; Mandarin Chinese; Mismatch negativity; Pitch contour; Pitch level