Lifeboat Foundation

What is happening in the cerebral cortex when someone hears a melody?

Music has been central to human cultures for tens of thousands of years, but how our brains perceive it has long been shrouded in mystery.

Now, researchers at UC San Francisco have developed a precise map of what is happening in the cerebral cortex when someone hears a melody.

It turns out to be doing two things at once: following the pitch of a note, using two sets of neurons that also follow the pitch of speech, and trying to predict what notes will come next, using a set of neurons that are specific to music.