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Related Concept Videos

Auditory Pathway01:15

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...
Hearing01:31

Hearing

When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.
Auditory Perception01:17

Auditory Perception

The auditory system is essential for sound perception, utilizing various critical structures. When sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and cause the eardrum to vibrate. These vibrations are then transmitted to the middle ear, where three tiny bones – the malleus, incus, and stapes – amplify the sound. This amplification is crucial, as it ensures that the sound vibrations are strong enough to be conveyed to the inner ear. These vibrations then reach the cochlea, a...
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location01:21

Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location

The human brain perceives pitch through two primary mechanisms reflected in place theory and frequency theory. Each mechanism describes how sound waves are interpreted as specific pitches by the brain, offering insights into the intricate processes of auditory perception.
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...
The Cochlea01:13

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning
08:43

Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning

Published on: October 22, 2015

Coding of melodic gestalt in human auditory cortex.

Andreas Schindler1, Marcus Herdener, Andreas Bartels

  • 1Vision and Cognition Lab, Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|September 20, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Melodies are recognized by their relative pitch patterns, not absolute notes. Early auditory cortex brain activity shows this melody recognition is invariant to instrument or key changes.

Keywords:
auditory cortexclassifiersfMRImelodyrelative pitch

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Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example
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Mapping Cortical Dynamics Using Simultaneous MEG/EEG and Anatomically-constrained Minimum-norm Estimates: an Auditory Attention Example

Published on: October 24, 2012

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Auditory Perception
  • Music Cognition

Background:

  • Melody perception relies on relative pitch relationships, not absolute pitch.
  • Auditory cortex is the presumed site for pitch processing.
  • It remains unclear if early auditory regions encode melodies invariantly across keys.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if primary and secondary auditory cortices encode melodies invariantly across keys and instruments.
  • To determine if early auditory regions can represent pitch sequences integrated over time.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to record brain activity.
  • Participants listened to melodies presented in different keys and on various instruments.
  • Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activation patterns were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Melodies were invariantly represented in primary and secondary auditory cortices.
  • Brain activation patterns remained consistent across different instruments.
  • Representations were also invariant to transpositions in different keys.

Conclusions:

  • Melodies are encoded based on their relative pitch profile, independent of absolute pitch.
  • This invariant encoding occurs as early as the primary auditory cortex.
  • Findings support and extend hierarchical models of auditory processing.