A perceptual pitch boundary in a non-human primate

Olivier Joy; Simon Baumann; Colline Pokier; Roy D. Patterson; Alexander Thiele; Timothy D. Griffiths

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00998

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A perceptual pitch boundary in a non-human primate

Journal article

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A perceptual pitch boundary in a non-human primate

Olivier Joy, Simon Baumann, Colline Pokier, Roy D. Patterson, Alexander Thiele and Timothy D. Griffiths

Frontiers in psychology, Vol.5, pp.998-998

09/15/2014

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00998

PMCID: PMC4163976

PMID: 25309477

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https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00998View

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Abstract

Pitch is an auditory percept critical to the perception of music and speech, and for these harmonic sounds, pitch is closely related to the repetition rate of the acoustic wave. This paper reports a test of the assumption that non-human primates and especially rhesus monkeys perceive the pitch of these harmonic sounds much as humans do. A new procedure was developed to train macaques to discriminate the pitch of harmonic sounds and thereby demonstrate that the lower limit for pitch perception in macaques is close to 30 Hz, as it is in humans. Moreover, when the phases of successive harmonics are alternated to cause a pseudo-doubling of the repetition rate, the lower pitch boundary in macaques decreases substantially, as it does in humans. The results suggest that both species use neural firing times to discriminate pitch, at least for sounds with relatively low repetition rates.

Psychology

Psychology, Multidisciplinary

Social Sciences

Details

Title: Subtitle: A perceptual pitch boundary in a non-human primate
Creators: Olivier Joy - Newcastle Univ, Auditory Grp, Inst Neurosci, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, Tyne & Wear, England
Simon Baumann - University of Newcastle Australia
Colline Pokier - Newcastle Univ, Auditory Grp, Inst Neurosci, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, Tyne & Wear, England
Roy D. Patterson - University of Cambridge
Alexander Thiele - Newcastle University
Timothy D. Griffiths - University College London
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Frontiers in psychology, Vol.5, pp.998-998
Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00998
PMID: 25309477
PMCID: PMC4163976
ISSN: 1664-1078
eISSN: 1664-1078
Number of pages: 5
Grant note: 091681 / Wellcome Trust; European Commission
Language: English
Date published: 09/15/2014
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984627223102771

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