Abstract
We address the question of whether the auditory cortex of the left and right hemisphere and the auditory thalamus are differently involved in the performance of cognitive tasks. To understand these differences on the level of single neurons we compared neuronal firing in the primary and posterior auditory cortex of the two hemispheres and in the medial geniculate body in monkeys while subjects categorized pitch relationships in tone sequences. In contrast to earlier findings in imaging studies performed on humans, we found little difference between the three brain regions in terms of the category-specificity of their neuronal responses, of tonic firing related to task components, and of decision-related firing. The differences between the results in humans and monkeys may result from the type of neuronal activity considered and how it was analyzed, from the auditory cortical fields studied, or from fundamental differences between these species.
Highlights
In most speech signals and music, information is contained in the pitch relationships between adjacent sound elements
Results of the present report are based on multiunit activity recorded from 641 sites in the right auditory cortex (RAC), the right auditory thalamus (MGB) and the left auditory cortex (LAC) during 187 sessions in three monkeys
This study indicated the presence of similar neuronal mechanisms in early auditory cortical areas of the left (LAC) and the right hemisphere (RAC) for the categorization of tone intervals
Summary
In most speech signals and music, information is contained in the pitch relationships between adjacent sound elements. Sentence type can be recognized on the basis of pitch contour alone [1]. These perceptual abilities are well developed in humans, some nonhuman animals, including monkeys ([3], [4], [5], [6], [7]), ferrets ([8], [9]), dolphins ([10]), and starlings ([11]) are able to identify pitch relationships between sounds. It is possible that humans and nonhuman animals share brain mechanisms for obtaining pitch relationships. Animal studies can be used to identify these possible common mechanisms on the level of single neurons or small neuronal groups
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