Mismatch negativity reflects asymmetric pre-attentive harmonic interval discrimination.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Western music is based on intervals; thus, interval discrimination is important for distinguishing the character of melodies or tracking melodies in polyphonic music. In this study the encoding of intervals in simultaneously presented sound is studied.

Study design

In an electrophysiological experiment in 15 normal-hearing non-musicians, major thirds or fifths were presented in a controlled oddball paradigm. Harmonic intervals were created by simultaneously presented sinusoidals with randomized root frequency. Mismatch negativity (MMN) responses were measured with an EEG recording. The discrimination index was calculated in a psychoacoustic experiment.

Results

A clear MMN response was found for the major third but not for the fifth. The neural generators wer

SUBMITTER: Wagner L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5919050 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature