A groundbreaking study published in Nature Communications has discovered a new brain region that plays a crucial role in interpreting the pitch of speech, challenging long-held assumptions about how our brains process language. The research, conducted by Northwestern University’s School of Communication, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, found that the Heschl’s gyrus region, known for early auditory processing, is not only responsible for sound but also transforms subtle changes in pitch into meaningful linguistic information.
For years, scientists believed that all aspects of prosody were primarily processed in the superior temporal gyrus. However, this study reveals that the Heschl’s gyrus plays a far greater role in interpreting speech than previously understood. The research team used a rare set of 11 adolescent patients with epilepsy to conduct high-quality recordings of brain activity while they listened to an audiobook recording.
The findings indicate that the brain encodes pitch accents separately from the sounds that make up words, and that this process occurs much earlier in auditory processing than previously thought. This discovery has significant implications for various fields, including speech rehabilitation, AI-powered voice assistants, and our understanding of human communication.
The study’s lead author, Bharath Chandrasekaran, stated that the results “redefine our understanding of the architecture of speech perception” and could transform the way we approach these areas. The research also highlights the unique role of linguistic experience in human communication, as non-human primates lack the ability to process pitch accents as abstract categories.
The study’s findings could lead to new interventions for speech and language disorders, such as autism, dysprosody in patients who have had a stroke, and language-based learning differences. Additionally, the discovery could significantly enhance AI-driven voice recognition systems by enabling them to better handle prosody, bringing natural language processing closer to mimicking human speech perception.
This breakthrough research underscores the importance of continued exploration into the complexities of human communication and the brain’s role in processing linguistic information.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-02-brain-decodes-pitch-speech.html