Speech Physiology Lab, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, 2240 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229, United States.
Brain Cogn. 2014 Feb;84(1):97-108. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2013.11.007. Epub 2013 Dec 18.
The ability to process auditory feedback for vocal pitch control is crucial during speaking and singing. Previous studies have suggested that musicians with absolute pitch (AP) develop specialized left-hemisphere mechanisms for pitch processing. The present study adopted an auditory feedback pitch perturbation paradigm combined with ERP recordings to test the hypothesis whether the neural mechanisms of the left-hemisphere enhance vocal pitch error detection and control in AP musicians compared with relative pitch (RP) musicians and non-musicians (NM). Results showed a stronger N1 response to pitch-shifted voice feedback in the right-hemisphere for both AP and RP musicians compared with the NM group. However, the left-hemisphere P2 component activation was greater in AP and RP musicians compared with NMs and also for the AP compared with RP musicians. The NM group was slower in generating compensatory vocal reactions to feedback pitch perturbation compared with musicians, and they failed to re-adjust their vocal pitch after the feedback perturbation was removed. These findings suggest that in the earlier stages of cortical neural processing, the right hemisphere is more active in musicians for detecting pitch changes in voice feedback. In the later stages, the left-hemisphere is more active during the processing of auditory feedback for vocal motor control and seems to involve specialized mechanisms that facilitate pitch processing in the AP compared with RP musicians. These findings indicate that the left hemisphere mechanisms of AP ability are associated with improved auditory feedback pitch processing during vocal pitch control in tasks such as speaking or singing.
处理听觉反馈以进行音高控制的能力在说话和唱歌时至关重要。先前的研究表明，具有绝对音高（AP）的音乐家发展出专门的左半球机制来进行音高处理。本研究采用听觉反馈音高扰动范式结合 ERP 记录来检验以下假设：与相对音高（RP）音乐家和非音乐家（NM）相比，左半球的神经机制是否增强了 AP 音乐家的音高错误检测和控制能力。结果表明，与 NM 组相比，AP 和 RP 音乐家的右半球对音高移位的语音反馈有更强的 N1 反应。然而，与 NM 组相比，AP 和 RP 音乐家的左半球 P2 成分激活更大，AP 音乐家比 RP 音乐家更大。与音乐家相比，NM 组对反馈音高扰动产生补偿性发声反应较慢，并且在反馈扰动消除后无法重新调整其发声音高。这些发现表明，在皮质神经处理的早期阶段，右半球在音乐家中对于检测语音反馈中的音高变化更为活跃。在后期，左半球在听觉反馈处理中更为活跃，用于发声运动控制，并且似乎涉及在 AP 中比在 RP 音乐家中促进音高处理的专门机制。这些发现表明，AP 能力的左半球机制与在说话或唱歌等任务中的发声音高控制期间的听觉反馈音高处理改善有关。
