Understanding pitch processing in the ear and the brain

4 August 2008

The ability to hear the pitch of a sound is important, not only for music appreciation, but also for listening to speech, especially in noisy environments.

Tone of voice can convey information about emphasis or whether a question is being asked. However, despite links between hearing impairment and changes in pitch processing, for example in elderly listeners, some aspects of this ability remain poorly understood.

Deafness Research UK is currently supporting two studies of pitch processing.

Professor Brian Moore at the University of Cambridge is leading a three-year investigation into the ability of people with mild to moderate hearing loss due to damage to the inner ear to discriminate between sounds of different pitch. The aim is to understand how this type of hearing loss impairs pitch perception and, ultimately, to develop hearing aids and cochlear implants that restore this ability. Doctoral student Hellen Waller is carrying out the research.

We are also supporting final-year undergraduate Charlotte Caunt to spend the summer working at the MRC Institute of Hearing Research in Nottingham, with Dr Katrin Krumbholz under our Vacation Scholarship scheme to encourage young people to go into hearing research. Charlotte will work on a project investigating how pitch is processed dynamically in listeners with normal hearing. The team hope to develop tests that can be used to help better understand hearing impairment.