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INT-BILAT-BILAT-ordningen

NA . Experiencing Pitch: Neuroprocessing of music and speech

Awarded: NOK 0.15 mill.

Our enviroment is rich with sound, much of which involves pitch. Pitch conveys the melody in music, as well as the difference between a question and statement in speech. It is fundamental to hearing and a major component in most sounds we experience. Musi c and speech are unique in their use of hierarchical systems of pitch, making them important domains for assessing cogntive neuroprocessing of pitch. Brain functions involved in music and speech perception also have a degree of cognitive neurological over lap. This raises questions of how musical and lingustic experience may interactively affect pitch processing. How does music experience affect pitch processing in speech, in a native language where linguistic experience is well established, versus a nonna tive language or in language development where pitch may not yet be an established part of the linguistic system. Inversely, how does the degree of linguistic experience and the role of pitch in a language carry over to the neuroprocessing of pitch in mus ic? Through collaboration between NTNU and Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, the research project to be established will address how the development of linguistic and musical experience interacts and affects the cognitive neural basis of pitch processin g. The prospective research will be established through evaluation of the cross-disciplinary base of previous theoretical and methodological findings, development of comparable testing facilities and techniques, and networking with researchers with relate d expertise and interests. The project year will result in applications to NSERC in Canada and culminate in an NFR application. Findings from the prospective project will contribute to understanding how diverse experience and environmental stimulation inf luence development and learning. The extent to which the neural organization of these processes is pliable can influence how we approach learning and the basic sensory-perceptual abilities humans use to learn.

Funding scheme:

INT-BILAT-BILAT-ordningen

Thematic Areas and Topics

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