Maeshima Hiroaki, Hosoda Chihiro, Okanoya Kazuo, Nakai Tomoya
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo.
Neuroreport. 2018 Dec 5;29(17):1487-1491. doi: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000001137.
Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to label the pitch of tones without any reference tones. Previous studies have shown that the anatomical and functional basis of AP exists in the superior temporal gyrus (STG), although the associated neurotransmitters remain unknown. We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to quantify the concentration of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, in the bilateral STG of adult AP possessor and non-AP possessors. We found a significant negative correlation between AP scores and GABA concentration in the left STG. Furthermore, mean GABA concentration was significantly reduced in the AP possessors group compared to the non-AP possessors group. Our results suggest that less inhibition in the bilateral STG may enable AP possessors to associate categorical labels with tones.
绝对音高（AP）是指在没有任何参考音的情况下标记音调音高的能力。先前的研究表明，尽管相关神经递质尚不清楚，但绝对音高的解剖学和功能基础存在于颞上回（STG）。我们使用质子磁共振波谱法来量化成年绝对音高拥有者和非绝对音高拥有者双侧颞上回中抑制性神经递质γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）的浓度。我们发现绝对音高得分与左侧颞上回中的GABA浓度之间存在显著的负相关。此外，与非绝对音高拥有者组相比，绝对音高拥有者组的平均GABA浓度显著降低。我们的结果表明，双侧颞上回中抑制作用的减弱可能使绝对音高拥有者能够将类别标签与音调联系起来。
