HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Trainor, L. J. Articles by Alain, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Trainor, L. J. Articles by Alain, C.

Automatic and Controlled Processing of Melodic Contour and Interval Information Measured by Electrical Brain Activity

McMaster University, Canada
Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Canada

Kelly L. McDonald

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Canada

Claude Alain

Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Canada
University of Toronto

Most work on how pitch is encoded in the auditory cortex has focused on tonotopic (absolute) pitch maps. However, melodic information is thought to be encoded in the brain in two different "relative pitch" forms, a domain-general contour code (up/down pattern of pitch changes) and a music-specific interval code (exact pitch distances between notes). Event-related potentials were analyzed in nonmusicians from both passive and active oddball tasks where either the contour or the interval of melody–final notes was occasionally altered. The occasional deviant notes generated a right frontal positivity peaking around 350 msec and a central parietal P3b peaking around 580 msec that were present only when participants focused their attention on the auditory stimuli. Both types of melodic information were encoded automatically in the absence of absolute pitch cues, as indexed by a mismatch negativity wave recorded during the passive conditions. The results indicate that even in the absence of musical training, the brain is set up to automatically encode music-specific melodic information, even when absolute pitch information is not available.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. Fujioka, L. J. Trainor, B. Ross, R. Kakigi, and C. Pantev Automatic Encoding of Polyphonic Melodies in Musicians and Nonmusicians J. Cogn. Neurosci., October 1, 2005; 17(10): 1578. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. E. Andrade and J. Bhattacharya Brain tuned to music J R Soc Med, June 1, 2003; 96(6): 284 - 287. [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. L. van Zuijen, E. Sussman, I. Winkler, R. Naatanen, and M. Tervaniemi Grouping of Sequential Sounds--An Event-Related Potential Study Comparing Musicians and Nonmusicians J. Cogn. Neurosci., February 1, 2003; 16(2): 331 - 338. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]