QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, November 28, 2007, 27(48):13074-13081; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2299-07.2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in J. Neurosci. Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gutschalk, A. Articles by Melcher, J. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gutschalk, A. Articles by Melcher, J. R. Pubmed/NCBI databases Compound via MeSH Substance via MeSH Hazardous Substances DB OXYGEN

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Human Cortical Activity during Streaming without Spectral Cues Suggests a General Neural Substrate for Auditory Stream Segregation

Alexander Gutschalk,^1,2,3 Andrew J. Oxenham,^4 * Christophe Micheyl,^4 * E. Courtenay Wilson,⁵ and Jennifer R. Melcher^1,2,5 *

¹Eaton-Peabody Laboratory, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, ²Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, ³Department of Neurology, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany, ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, ⁵Harvard–Massachusetts Institute of Technology Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Correspondence should be addressed to Alexander Gutschalk, Department of Neurology, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Email: Alexander_Gutschalk{at}med.uni-heidelberg.de

The brain continuously disentangles competing sounds, such as two people speaking, and assigns them to distinct streams. Neural mechanisms have been proposed for streaming based on gross spectral differences between sounds, but not for streaming based on other nonspectral features. Here, human listeners were presented with sequences of harmonic complex tones that had identical spectral envelopes, and unresolved spectral fine structure, but one of two fundamental frequencies (f₀) and pitches. As the f₀ difference between tones increased, listeners perceived the tones as being segregated into two streams (one stream for each f₀) and cortical activity measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography increased. This trend was seen in primary cortex of Heschl's gyrus and in surrounding nonprimary areas. The results strongly resemble those for pure tones. Both the present and pure tone results may reflect neuronal forward suppression that diminishes as one or more features of successive sounds become increasingly different. We hypothesize that feature-specific forward suppression subserves streaming based on diverse perceptual cues and results in explicit neural representations for auditory streams within auditory cortex.

Key words: auditory cortex; scene analysis; stream segregation; fMRI; MEG; adaptation

---

Received May 19, 2007; revised Sept. 25, 2007; accepted Oct. 10, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Alexander Gutschalk, Department of Neurology, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Email: Alexander_Gutschalk{at}med.uni-heidelberg.de

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

This Week in The Journal

J. Neurosci. 2007 27: i. [Full Text]  

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help