Action-perception mismatch in tone-deafness - PubMed (original) (raw)

Action-perception mismatch in tone-deafness

Psyche Loui et al. Curr Biol. 2008.

Abstract

The source of conscious experience has fueled scientific and philosophical debates for centuries. In auditory and motor domains, it is yet unknown how consciously and unconsciously obtained information may combine to enable the production and perception of speaking and singing. Both forms of vocalizations rely upon the interaction of brain networks responsible for perception and action. While perceptual experience and executed actions are usually well coupled, dissociations between perception and action can be informative of their underlying neural systems. Here we report a dissociation between production and perception: tone-deaf individuals, who cannot consciously perceive pitch differences, can paradoxically reproduce pitch intervals in correct directions. Our results suggest that multiple neural pathways have evolved for sound perception and production, so that pitch information sufficient for intact speech can be obtained separately from pathways necessary for conscious perception.

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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Perception and production accuracy in tone-deaf and control listeners. Each trial was scored as correct if the direction of verbal report (in the perception task) or the direction of produced fundamental frequencies (in the production task) was the same as target stimuli. Perception was significantly worse in tone-deaf individuals than controls, t(1,10) = 5.6, p = 0.0002. However, direction of pitch production was above chance in tone-deaf subjects, with performance being statistically indistinguishable from controls, t(1,10) = 1.05, p = 0.3. A two-way ANOVA with factors of group (tone-deaf vs. control) and task (perception vs. production) showed a significant interaction (F(1,20) = 13.2, p < 0.01), confirming differential performance in perception but not production in tone-deaf versus control listeners.

Figure 2

Figure 2

A. Mean fundamental frequencies of the two produced tones in tone-deaf listeners. The first tone had a target frequency at a constant 500Hz, whereas the second tone ranged from 450–550Hz. B. Same as A in normal controls. While both groups show a significant positive correlation between target and produced fundamental frequency, the correlation is significantly lower in the tone-deaf group (t(1,10) = 2.3, p = 0.046) and variability in pitch production is higher for the tone-deaf group, as indicated by a t-test comparing standard error across different subjects producing the same pitch: t(1,20) = 3.6, p = 0.0015. Error bars indicate between-subject standard error.

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