Edwin C. Hantz

Neural processing of musical timbre by musicians, nonmusicians, and musicians possessing absolute pitch.

Cognitive event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured during a timbre discrimination task from three subject groups varying in musical experience. The P3 component of the ERP was recorded from musicians with absolute pitch, musicians without absolute pitch, and nonmusicians during a task comprising timbres of varying difficulty. The three-timbre series, all of which consisted of the same pitch, were (1) string instruments in the same family (cello and viola), (2) flutes made of different materials (silver and wood), and (3) instruments of slightly different size (B-flat versus F tubas). The amplitude and latency of the P3 component varied systematically as a function of musical experience and type of timbre discrimination. The difficult timbre task resulted in mean P3 amplitudes which were larger for musicians relative to nonmusicians, however P3 amplitudes were similar for the two additional timbre series. The mean P3 latencies for musicians were shorter when compared to nonmusicians across all three series. In comparison, the AP subjects displayed the shortest mean P3 latencies, but had smaller P3 amplitudes relative to both musicians and nonmusicians. The implications of these findings suggest that perceptual tasks involving one of the fundamental building blocks of music, namely timbre, does elicit differential brain activity from memory or information processing systems from subjects with varying degrees of musical training.

Effects of Musical Training and Absolute Pitch on the Neural Processing of Melodic Intervals: A P3 Event-Related Potential Study

During perceptual tasks involving the discrimination of musical intervals, event-related potentials, specifically the P3, were measured for three subject groups: musicians without absolute pitch, musicians with absolute pitch, and nonmusicians. The two interval-discrimination tasks were a simple two-note contour task and a difficult interval-size discrimination task. Clear effects on the neural waveforms were found for both training and the presence of the absolute pitch ability. In general, training increases the amplitude and shortens the latency of the P3, while the absolute pitch ability reduces the amplitude and shortens the latency, or eliminates the P3 altogether. The absolute pitch effect may be due to the use of a long-term memory strategy involved in the correct performance of the discrimination task rather than performing the task by updating working memory each time a target occurs. Finally, these data are contrasted with those from studies involving sine tones and timbrediscrimination tasks.

Sex differences in memory for timbre: an event-related potential study.

Although female/male cognitive differences have been studied for some time, little is known about such differences relative to music. Highly-trained musicians (15 females and 15 males) performed a memory task for musical timbre modeled after the missing-displaced visual object test known to favor female performance. Subjects were tested on memory for a timbre missing from a previously presented set of synthesized instrumental timbres, and a control series of white noise bursts at two different intensity levels. Subjects were given the missing-displaced visual object test and ERPs were recorded from three midline sites and two lateral sites. Waveforms were subjected to a principal component analysis and analysis of variance. Females and males performed equally well on both of the auditory series and the visual object test. Both auditory series elicited several ERP components: a strong early peak to the white noise, and both early (P3a) and late (P3b) peaks to the timbre series. PCA factor, maximum at 675 ms (P3b), showed a main effect for sex across both series with males > females. PCA factor, maximum at 336 ms (P3a), showed larger Fz to Pz differential for females than males for both auditory series. Females show a greater differentiation between targets and nontargets in the white noise series, suggesting greater sensitivity to changes in intensity. Interactions involving absolute pitch also appeared in the sensory processing time frames. Although the behavioral measures did not show significant sex differences, the ERP measures did show reliable task-related sex differences.

Absolute pitch and sex affect event-related potential activity for a melodic interval discrimination task

Absolute pitch is a special ability which allows for special perceptual/cognitive strategies. Studies have shown differences in event-related scalp potentials between absolute-pitch (AP) and relative-pitch (RP) subjects of equal musical training. In this study, highly trained musicians (15 females/15 males) performed a melodic interval discrimination task, using intervals on-pitch in equal-tempered tuning (A4 = 440 Hz) and tuned a half-semitone sharp. Subjects identified target intervals (probability 0.2) in a series of 400 randomly transposed intervals. AP subjects were expected to perform differently across intonation conditions, whereas RP subjects were not. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from three midline sites and two lateral sites. ERPs were analyzed by principal component analysis of variance. Sex was also considered as an independent subject variable. Performance was not significantly different either by absolute pitch or sex. Reaction times did not reveal any significant interactions involving AP or sex, but showed a significant effect by response type (target/nontarget). Strong P3 activity appeared to the target melodic intervals regardless of subject group or intonation. PCA factors with maxima at 352, 511, and 709 ms were sensitive to task relevance. Males showed greater positivity than females along the midline. A significant intonation by response type by sex interaction indicated a greater spread of values for females than males, and greater similarity in response by sex for the sharp than the on-pitch intervals. AP subjects showed reduced P3 activity along the midline, but increased over lateral sites. In a difficult musical task, the ERPs were sensitive to the sex of the listeners, as well as to whether they had absolute pitch.