The Central Origin of the Pitch of Complex Tones: Evidence from Musical Interval Recognition

The human auditory system's ability to recognize simple melodies that correspond to fundamental periods in sequences of periodic sounds devoid of fundamental energy was studied through musical interval identification experiments. Stimuli comprising two randomly chosen successive upper harmonics were presented both monotically (two harmonics to one ear) and dichotically (one harmonic to each ear). Subjects could recognize melodies equally well with both modes of stimulus presentation. The results imply that the pitch of these complex tones is mediated by a central processor operating on neural signals derived from those effective stimulus harmonics that are tonotopically resolved.