The article explains how the left and right sides of the brain process language differently, with the left hemisphere specializing in speech and the right in melodies, and how these processes develop during critical periods in early life. Research on mice shows that these developmental windows vary by sex and hemisphere, influencing how sound is processed and potentially contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and schizophrenia. Understanding these mechanisms offers insights into language development and potential early interventions.
Researchers at UC San Francisco have uncovered how the brain processes melodies, revealing that it engages in dual tasks when hearing music: tracking pitch with neurons used for speech and predicting future notes with music-specific neurons. This breakthrough clarifies the mystery of melody perception, demonstrating shared and unique neural pathways for music and speech processing. The study enhances our understanding of the brain's response to music and opens avenues for exploring its emotional and therapeutic impacts.
A new study from UC San Francisco has revealed that the brain processes music by discerning pitch, pitch changes, and predicting the sequence of upcoming notes through distinct sets of neurons. The research utilized high-density electrocorticography to directly record brain activity in participants exposed to musical phrases and spoken English sentences, uncovering specialized neural populations within the auditory cortex for different components of musical perception. While some aspects of music processing share mechanisms with speech, the study found that the prediction of note sequences is uniquely attuned to music, shedding light on the brain's auditory processing capabilities and opening avenues for further exploration.
A study conducted by neuroscientists at New York University has identified a class of neurons called "prediction-error neurons" that only respond when sounds violate expectations, signaling a mistake. These neurons are specific to different types of auditory discrepancies and could play a crucial role in understanding learning processes involving trial and error in sound-associated behaviors like speech and music. The findings have implications for refining learning processes, identifying causes behind certain afflictions, and assessing sound-related aptitudes.
The brain's primary auditory cortex is more responsive to positive human vocalizations coming from the left side than to any other kind of sounds. This bias can be explained by the way our brain is organized, but its evolutionary significance is not yet known. The preference of the primary auditory cortex for positive human vocalizations from the left is still unclear, and it is unknown whether this is a uniquely human characteristic.
Neuroscientists have discovered that positive human sounds, like laughter, trigger stronger neural activity in the brain's auditory system when they are heard from the left-hand side, suggesting the human auditory cortex is specially tuned to the direction of sounds that make us happy. The left ear can more easily identify the emotional tone in someone's voice, hinting at some underlying specialization. The study suggests that heightened sensitivity to certain noises coming from certain directions makes broad evolutionary sense, but a left-handed bias to the emotion in human voices is not so easily explained.
Positive human vocalizations, like laughter, coming from the listener’s left side trigger stronger activity in the brain’s auditory cortex. Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to monitor the brain’s response to different types of sounds from varying directions in right-handed participants. They observed the highest activation in the primary auditory cortex when participants listened to positive vocalizations coming from the left, compared to front or right. This finding may imply that the nature, emotional valence, and spatial origin of a sound are initially processed in the primary auditory cortex.
