Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

A Method to Study Adaptation to Left-Right Reversed Audition
Published on: October 29, 2018
Opposite hemispheric asymmetries for pitch identification in absolute pitch and non-absolute pitch musicians
Alfredo Brancucci1, Milena di Nuzzo, Luca Tommasi
1Department of Biomedical Sciences and Institute for Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. d'Annunzio, Chieti, Italy. alfredo.brancucci@unich.it
Abstract:
The aim of the present study is to investigate functional laterality for pitch identification in subjects with absolute pitch (AP) and without absolute pitch (NAP). Forty-four musicians were divided into two groups (AP and NAP) on the basis of their performance in a preliminary standard AP-test. They were subsequently presented with an AP-test designed for dichotic listening, a neuropsychological technique which allows the investigation of functional hemispheric asymmetries. Dependent variables were accuracy and reaction time. It was observed that AP and NAP subjects exhibit opposite hemispheric specialization for pitch identification, AP subjects showing a bias towards the left hemisphere and NAP subjects showing a bias towards the right hemisphere. Results are discussed in the context of neuroimaging evidence of structural and functional asymmetries related to AP.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by identifying...
Lateralization
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same frequency...
Cerebral Hemispheres
¹H NMR Chemical Shift Equivalence: Enantiotopic and Diastereotopic Protons
In chiral compounds such as 2-butanol, replacing the methylene hydrogens at C3 produces a pair of...
Hearing

