Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T21:38:31.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Temporary and longer term retention of acoustic information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2002

ISTVÁN WINKLER
Affiliation:
Institute for Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
OLEG KORZYUKOV
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
VALENTINA GUMENYUK
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
NELSON COWAN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
KLAUS LINKENKAER-HANSEN
Affiliation:
BioMag Laboratory, Engineering Centre, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
RISTO J. ILMONIEMI
Affiliation:
BioMag Laboratory, Engineering Centre, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
KIMMO ALHO
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland
RISTO NÄÄTÄNEN
Affiliation:
Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland BioMag Laboratory, Engineering Centre, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
Get access

Abstract

Though many studies suggest that fine acoustic details fade from memory after 15 s or even less, everyday experience tells us that the voice of a person or a musical instrument can be recognized long after it was last heard. We wished to determine whether tones leave a lasting memory trace using an experimental model of implicit recognition and testing whether exact pitch information can be retrieved even after 30 s. Event-related brain potentials demonstrated the survival of an accurate representation of tone pitch in the auditory cortex. This result provides a link between short-duration buffering and permanent storage of acoustic information.

Type
BRIEF REPORT
Copyright
2002 Society for Psychophysiological Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)