The Cognitive Neuroscience of Music

study and frontal opercula in a number of other studies. The patterns of activation shown
are similar to those demonstrated by studies using actual musical stimuli^33 (see also
Chapter 16 by Zatorre, this volume), but show less striking lateralization. This suggests the
possibility that the imposition of higher levels of cognitive processing in more musical
studies contributes to the lateralization during musical processing.

Conclusion

Both studies of humans with brain lesions and functional imaging provide convergent evid-
ence for the existence of a neural substrate for the processing of sound sequences that is
hierarchal in organization. The pathway up to and including the primary auditory cortices

     175

Temporal Temporal

lobelobe

Temporal

lobe

Pitch-sequence

detection areas

Primary

auditory

cortex

Figure 11.3 Hypothesized basis for hierarchal processing of temporal structure in the temporal cortices sug-
gested by the experiment using iterated rippled noise. The temporal structure within individual notes is processed
in the pathway up to and including the primary auditory cortex, while pitch sequences are processed in the
distinct areas shown. (Artist: © 1998, Bob Crimi. Reprinted with permission.)