It all sounds the same to me: Sequential ERP and behavioral effects during pitch and harmonicity judgments

The representation of complex sounds was examined by comparing both behavioral and event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to the change or repetition of fundamental frequency (f0) and harmonicity. In the pitch task, participants were asked to categorize the incoming stimulus as either low or high, regardless of harmonicity, and in the harmonicity task, participants indicated whether the stimulus was tuned or mistuned, regardless of pitch. Over three experiments, participants were faster in responding to pitch than to harmonicity. As a result of this asymmetry, behavioral and ERP data showed that irrelevant changes in harmonicity had little impact on performance during the pitch task, whereas harmonicity judgments were impeded by irrelevant changes in f0. These data are consistent with both general horse-race accounts of processing and specific accounts of mistuning detection that posit prior f0 registration. In addition, ERP components N2 and P3 were modulated by both intertrial contingency and task instructions, revealing the further influence of top-down mechanisms on concurrent sound segregation.