title: Impaired encoding of rapid pitch information underlies perception and memory deficits in congenital amusia.
abstract: Recent theories suggest that the basis of neurodevelopmental auditory disorders such as dyslexia or specific language impairment might be a low-level sensory dysfunction. In the present study we test this hypothesis in congenital amusia, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe deficits in the processing of pitch-based material. We manipulated the temporal characteristics of auditory stimuli and investigated the influence of the time given to encode pitch information on participants' performance in discrimination and short-term memory. Our results show that amusics' performance in such tasks scales with the duration available to encode acoustic information. This suggests that in auditory neuro-developmental disorders, abnormalities in early steps of the auditory processing can underlie the high-level deficits (here musical disabilities). Observing that the slowing down of temporal dynamics improves amusics' pitch abilities allows considering this approach as a potential tool for remediation in developmental auditory disorders.
authors.affiliation: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Auditory Cognition and Psychoacoustics Team &Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team, CRNL, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Lyon, F-69000, France.|Université Lyon 1, Lyon, F-69000, France.|International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada H3C 3J7.|Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC Canada H3A 2B4.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Albouy
authors.affiliation: International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada H3C 3J7.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cousineau
authors.affiliation: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Auditory Cognition and Psychoacoustics Team &Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team, CRNL, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Lyon, F-69000, France.|Université Lyon 1, Lyon, F-69000, France.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caclin
authors.affiliation: Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Auditory Cognition and Psychoacoustics Team &Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team, CRNL, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM U1028, Lyon, F-69000, France.|Université Lyon 1, Lyon, F-69000, France.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tillmann
authors.affiliation: International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada H3C 3J7.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Peretz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D008875:Middle Aged; D010897:Pitch Discrimination; D010898:Pitch Perception