In 2002 Patterson et al. published a highly cited auditory fMRI study on the processing of sequences of musical notes, realised by diotically presented regular interval sounds (Neuron 36, 767-776, 2002). The main findings were (1) the identification of a pitch sensitive region in lateral Heschl’s gyrus (HG), outside primary auditory cortex, in both hemispheres, and (2) the demonstration of a specific effect of pitch changes, as in melodies, in several adjacent areas in Planum polare and superior temporal gyrus, which for most listeners was more prominent in the right hemisphere.

One purpose of the current fMRI study was to shed more light on the hemispheric asymmetry in melody processing. The effect of the ear of entry on the asymmetry of the melody-specific activation was investigated for monaural presentation. Simple contrasts between sound and silence revealed the expected crossed pathway of the main projections between ear and auditory cortex. Melody-specific activation however was largely independent from the ear of entry. This is interpreted as evidence for a hierarchy in pitch processing. Regions that are specifically activated by changes of pitch appear to represent the perceptual component of listening to melodies, beyond the purely sensory representation driven by stimulus properties only.