A study by Kosuke Ito, a specially appointed associate professor at the Center for Integrated Brain Function Research, University of Niigata Brain Research Institute, found that when a musician with perfect pitch (* 1) hears the sound of "do", the activity of the brain is close to that of language processing. The group found out.Since there are many unclear points about the mechanism of absolute pitch brain, it seems to be a step toward elucidation.
In the survey, about 20 people who had perfect pitch and those who had no perfect pitch, and about XNUMX people who had no music experience, were asked to hear the sound of "do", and the electrical reaction of the brain was investigated.According to it, people who do not have perfect pitch and those who have no musical experience showed a uniform reaction in the left and right brains, whereas those who have perfect pitch have a strong reaction in the left brain by suppressing the activity of the right brain. Was there.
The left brain is known to react strongly during language processing.The time when it is easy to acquire perfect pitch may coincide with the time when a child learns his / her native language, and the research group artificially divides continuous sounds into semitone units and verbalizes them. Can be regarded as a language function.
Absolute pitch is often thought of as a special ability only for music, but when you look inside your brain, it becomes clear that it is not so good.
* 1 Absolute pitch Ability to distinguish note names such as "Doremi" without comparing the heard sound with another sound
Paper information:[Frontiers in Neuroscience] Auditory T-complex reveals reduced neural activities in the right auditory cortex in musicians with absolute pitch
