Experience-induced malleability in neural encoding of pitch, timbre, and timing: Implications for language and music

Nina Kraus*, Erika Skoe, Alexandra Parbery-Clark, Richard Ashley

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

129 Scopus citations

Abstract

Speech and music are highly complex signals that have many shared acoustic features. Pitch, Timbre, and Timing can be used as overarching perceptual categories for describing these shared properties. The acoustic cues contributing to these percepts also have distinct subcortical representations which can be selectively enhanced or degraded in different populations. Musically trained subjects are found to have enhanced subcortical representations of pitch, timbre, and timing. The effects of musical experience on subcortical auditory processing are pervasive and extend beyond music to the domains of language and emotion. The sensory malleability of the neural encoding of pitch, timbre, and timing can be affected by lifelong experience and short-term training. This conceptual framework and supporting data can be applied to consider sensory learning of speech and music through a hearing aid or cochlear implant.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationInternational Symposium on Olfaction and Taste
Pages543-557
Number of pages15
Volume1169
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2009

Keywords

  • Brain stem
  • Cochlear implant
  • Musical training
  • Subcortical

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • History and Philosophy of Science

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