Vowel Identity between Note Labels Confuses Pitch Identification in Non-Absolute Pitch Possessors

The simplest and likeliest assumption concerning the cognitive bases of absolute pitch (AP) is that at its origin there is a particularly skilled function which matches the height of the perceived pitch to the verbal label of the musical tone. Since there is no difference in sound frequency resolution between AP and non-AP (NAP) musicians, the hypothesis of the present study is that the failure of NAP musicians in pitch identification relies mainly in an inability to retrieve the correct verbal label to be assigned to the perceived musical note. The primary hypothesis is that, when asked to identify tones, NAP musicians confuse the verbal labels to be attached to the stimulus on the basis of their phonetic content. Data from two AP tests are reported, in which subjects had to respond in the presence or in the absence of visually presented verbal note labels (fixed Do solmization). Results show that NAP musicians confuse more frequently notes having a similar vowel in the note label. They tend to confuse e.g. a 261 Hz tone (Do) more often with Sol than, e.g., with La. As a second goal, we wondered whether this effect is lateralized, i.e. whether one hemisphere is more responsible than the other in the confusion of notes with similar labels. This question was addressed by observing pitch identification during dichotic listening. Results showed that there is a right hemispheric disadvantage, in NAP but not AP musicians, in the retrieval of the verbal label to be assigned to the perceived pitch. The present results indicate that absolute pitch has strong verbal bases, at least from a cognitive point of view

Asymmetric Cortical Adaptation Effects during Alternating Auditory Stimulation

The present study investigates hemispheric asymmetries in the neural adaptation processes occurring during alternating auditory stimulation. Stimuli were two monaural pure tones having a frequency of 400 or 800 Hz and a duration of 500 ms. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 14 volunteers during the presentation of the following stimulus sequences, lasting 12 s each: 1) evoked potentials (EP condition, control), 2) alternation of frequency and ear (FE condition), 3) alternation of frequency (F condition), and 4) alternation of ear (E condition). Main results showed that in the central area of the left hemisphere (around C3 site) the N100 response underwent adaptation in all patterns of alternation, whereas in the same area of the right hemisphere the tones presented at the right ear in the FE produced no adaptation. Moreover, the responses to right-ear stimuli showed a difference between hemispheres in the E condition, which produced less adaptation in the left hemisphere. These effects are discussed in terms of lateral symmetry as a product of hemispheric, pathway and ear asymmetries

Guessing Meaning From Word Sounds of Unfamiliar Languages: A Cross-Cultural Sound Symbolism Study

Sound symbolism refers to a non-arbitrary relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning. With the aim to better investigate this relationship by using natural languages, in the present cross-linguistic study 215 Italian and Polish participants were asked to listen to words pronounced in 4 unknown non-indo-European languages (Finnish, Japanese, Swahili, Tamil) and to try to guess the correct meaning of each word, by choosing among 3 alternatives visualized on a computer screen. The alternatives were presented in the mother tongue of participants. Three different word categories were presented: nouns, verbs and adjectives. A first overall analysis confirmed a semantic role of sound symbols, the performance of participants being higher than expected by chance. When analyzed separately for each language and for each word category, the results were significant for Finnish and Japanese, whereas the recognition rate was not significantly better than chance for Swahili and Tamil. Results were significant for nouns and verbs, but not for adjectives. We confirm the existence of sound symbolic processing in natural unknown languages, and we speculate that some possible difference in the iconicity of the languages could be the basis for the difference we found. Importantly, the evidence that there were no differences between Italian and Polish participants allows us to conclude that the sound symbolism is independent of the mother tongue of the listener

Side Biases in Euro Banknotes Recognition: The Horizontal Mapping of Monetary Value

Money is a special stimulus for humans, because of its relevance in everyday life. However, the basic mechanisms underlying money representation have not yet been fully investigated. Left-right asymmetries in the visual perception and evaluation of monetary value offer such a possibility. The pattern of these asymmetries can contribute to disentangle between numerical and emotional processes possibly involved in banknotes perception. In the present experiment, we tested the recognition of 5€and 100€ banknotes presented in the left and right visual fields. Results show that the 100€ banknote is recognized faster than the 5€ banknote in the Right Visual Field (RVF), while there is no difference in the Left Visual Field (LVF). Our interpretation is that this effect is due to the matching between the positive valence conveyed by the 100€ banknote and the side in which it is mapped (right-positive). We consider this result as evidence of a valence-based recognition of banknotes

Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Episodic Memory Related to Emotional Visual Stimuli

The present study investigated emotional memory following bilateral transcranial electrical stimulation (direct current of 1 mA, for 20 minutes) over fronto-temporal cortical areas of healthy participants during the encoding of images that differed in affective arousal and valence. The main result was a significant interaction between the side of anodal stimulation and image emotional valence. Specifically, right anodal/left cathodal stimulation selectively facilitated the recall of pleasant images with respect to both unpleasant and neutral images whereas left anodal/right cathodal stimulation selectively facilitated the recall of unpleasant images with respect to both pleasant and neutral images. From a theoretical perspective, this double dissociation between the side of anodal stimulation and the advantage in the memory performance for a specific type of stimulus depending on its pleasantness supported the specific-valence hypothesis of emotional processes, which assumes a specialization of the right hemisphere in processing unpleasant stimuli and a specialization of the left hemisphere in processing pleasant stimuli. From a methodological point of view, first we found tDCS effects strictly dependent on the stimulus category, and second a pattern of results in line with an interfering and inhibitory account of anodal stimulation on memory performance. These findings need to be carefully considered in applied contexts, such as the rehabilitation of altered emotional processing or eye-witness memory, and deserve to be further investigated in order to understand their underlying mechanisms of action

La relativit\ue0 della coscienza Teoria dell'Informazione Integrata e Relativit\ue0

Uno dei problemi fondamentali della scienza \ue8 la comprensione della coscienza. In questo testo coscienza e spazio-tempo vengono congiunti in un'unica visione generando una teoria che unisce la Teoria dell'Informazione Integrata (IIT) di Giulio Tononi alle nozioni fondamentali di spazio e tempo derivanti dalla Teoria della Relativit\ue0 Ristretta. Visto che le neuroscienze suggeriscono una correlazione tra coscienza e attivit\ue0 neurale, si pu\uf2 ipotizzare l'esistenza di una connessione tra materia e coscienza e, di conseguenza, tutte forze che interagiscono con la materia possono influenzare la coscienza. La materia \ue8 intesa come un ripiegamento dello spazio-tempo e, quando lo spazio-tempo si deforma in un modo specifico, la coscienza emerge da esso. Poich\ue9 lo spazio ed il tempo sono unit\ue0 relative, anche la coscienza potrebbe avere un'essenza relativa. In altre parole, la coscienza di un sistema non dipende solo dalle sue capacit\ue0 funzionali, ma anche dalla velocit\ue0 alla quale si muove nello spazio-tempo. Inoltre, la quantit\ue0 di coscienza in altri luoghi dell'universo dipende anche dalla velocit\ue0 alla quale le galassie si espandon

The Relativity of Consciousness: The Application of Time Dilation to The Theory of Integrated GianlucaInformation

One of the fundamental problems of science is the difficulty in understanding the relationships that interconnect consciousness with space and time. The objective of this article is to describe the relationship between consciousness and space-time by relating the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of Giulio Tononi with the fundamental notions of space and time of the restricted relativity theory. Considering that neuroscience suggests a correlation between consciousness and neural activity, it can be inferred that there is a connection between matter and consciousness and therefore, how the forces interacting with matter can influence consciousness. A further objective is to extend the study of consciousness beyond the skull, to have a mathematical overview describing whether the amount of information produced in the unity of time by a system is stable and absolute or rather whether it depends from the interaction with the space-time and by the speed at which the system moves

I'll have this salad on the left, and I'll have it now! The influence of hunger on healthy-left nudge

Displaying foods congruently with the healthy-left/unhealthy-right (HL/UR) horizontal mental representation could, through self-control facilitation, lead to healthier food choices. Here, by using two versions of the same on-line menu, we tested whether the healthy-left nudge was influenced by the hunger of our participants. A total of 192 participants filled the HL/UR version whereas 194 filled the specular version (unhealthy-left/healthy-right; UL/HR) of the same survey. We did not find a significant difference in healthy (Vs. unhealthy) item choices when displayed on the left Vs. the right page of the menu: this null result can be attributed to sated participants that decided to eat the product later. On the opposite, hungry participants who preferred to eat the product immediately were nudged toward healthy (Vs. unhealthy) products when they were listed on the left page as compared to the right. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of healthy nudge