Timing matters

The human central auditory system can automatically extract abstract regularities from a variant auditory input. To this end, temporarily separated events need to be related. This study tested whether the timing between events, falling either within or outside the temporal window of integration (~35...

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Main Authors: Weise, Annekathrin, Grimm, Sabine, Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J., Schröger, Erich
Other Authors: Universität Leipzig, Institut für Psychologie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-146962
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-146962
http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/14696/fnhum-08-00387-2.pdf
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spelling ndltd-DRESDEN-oai-qucosa.de-bsz-15-qucosa-1469622015-01-17T03:28:25Z Timing matters Weise, Annekathrin Grimm, Sabine Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J. Schröger, Erich Hörwahrnehmung Tonhöhe Mismatch Negativity (MMN) abstract regularities automatic processing frontal generators mismatch negativity supratemporal generators temporal window of integration ddc:150 The human central auditory system can automatically extract abstract regularities from a variant auditory input. To this end, temporarily separated events need to be related. This study tested whether the timing between events, falling either within or outside the temporal window of integration (~350 ms), impacts the extraction of abstract feature relations. We utilized tone pairs for which tones within but not across pairs revealed a constant pitch relation (e.g., pitch of second tone of a pair higher than pitch of first tone, while absolute pitch values varied across pairs). We measured the mismatch negativity (MMN; the brain’s error signal to auditory regularity violations) to second tones that rarely violated the pitch relation (e.g., pitch of second tone lower). A Short condition in which tone duration (90 ms) and stimulus onset asynchrony between the tones of a pair were short (110 ms) was compared to two conditions, where this onset asynchrony was long (510 ms). In the Long Gap condition, the tone durations were identical to Short (90 ms), but the silent interval was prolonged by 400 ms. In Long Tone, the duration of the first tone was prolonged by 400 ms, while the silent interval was comparable to Short (20 ms). Results show a frontocentral MMN of comparable amplitude in all conditions. Thus, abstract pitch relations can be extracted even when the within-pair timing exceeds the integration period. Source analyses indicate MMN generators in the supratemporal cortex. Interestingly, they were located more anterior in Long Gap than in Short and Long Tone. Moreover, frontal generator activity was found for Long Gap and Long Tone. Thus, the way in which the system automatically registers irregular abstract pitch relations depends on the timing of the events to be linked. Pending that the current MMN data mirror established abstract rule representations coding the regular pitch relation, neural processes building these templates vary with timing. Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig Universität Leipzig, Institut für Psychologie University of Barcelona, Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour Cuban Neuroscience Centre, Neuroinformatics Department Frontiers Media, 2014-06-26 doc-type:article application/pdf http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-146962 urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-146962 http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/14696/fnhum-08-00387-2.pdf Front. Hum. Neurosci., 11 June 2014 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00387 eng
collection NDLTD
language English
format Article
sources NDLTD
topic Hörwahrnehmung
Tonhöhe
Mismatch Negativity (MMN)
abstract regularities
automatic processing
frontal generators
mismatch negativity
supratemporal generators
temporal window of integration
ddc:150
spellingShingle Hörwahrnehmung
Tonhöhe
Mismatch Negativity (MMN)
abstract regularities
automatic processing
frontal generators
mismatch negativity
supratemporal generators
temporal window of integration
ddc:150
Weise, Annekathrin
Grimm, Sabine
Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J.
Schröger, Erich
Timing matters
description The human central auditory system can automatically extract abstract regularities from a variant auditory input. To this end, temporarily separated events need to be related. This study tested whether the timing between events, falling either within or outside the temporal window of integration (~350 ms), impacts the extraction of abstract feature relations. We utilized tone pairs for which tones within but not across pairs revealed a constant pitch relation (e.g., pitch of second tone of a pair higher than pitch of first tone, while absolute pitch values varied across pairs). We measured the mismatch negativity (MMN; the brain’s error signal to auditory regularity violations) to second tones that rarely violated the pitch relation (e.g., pitch of second tone lower). A Short condition in which tone duration (90 ms) and stimulus onset asynchrony between the tones of a pair were short (110 ms) was compared to two conditions, where this onset asynchrony was long (510 ms). In the Long Gap condition, the tone durations were identical to Short (90 ms), but the silent interval was prolonged by 400 ms. In Long Tone, the duration of the first tone was prolonged by 400 ms, while the silent interval was comparable to Short (20 ms). Results show a frontocentral MMN of comparable amplitude in all conditions. Thus, abstract pitch relations can be extracted even when the within-pair timing exceeds the integration period. Source analyses indicate MMN generators in the supratemporal cortex. Interestingly, they were located more anterior in Long Gap than in Short and Long Tone. Moreover, frontal generator activity was found for Long Gap and Long Tone. Thus, the way in which the system automatically registers irregular abstract pitch relations depends on the timing of the events to be linked. Pending that the current MMN data mirror established abstract rule representations coding the regular pitch relation, neural processes building these templates vary with timing.
author2 Universität Leipzig, Institut für Psychologie
author_facet Universität Leipzig, Institut für Psychologie
Weise, Annekathrin
Grimm, Sabine
Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J.
Schröger, Erich
author Weise, Annekathrin
Grimm, Sabine
Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J.
Schröger, Erich
author_sort Weise, Annekathrin
title Timing matters
title_short Timing matters
title_full Timing matters
title_fullStr Timing matters
title_full_unstemmed Timing matters
title_sort timing matters
publisher Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig
publishDate 2014
url http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-146962
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-146962
http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/14696/fnhum-08-00387-2.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT weiseannekathrin timingmatters
AT grimmsabine timingmatters
AT trujillobarretonelsonj timingmatters
AT schrogererich timingmatters
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