Cerebral lateralization of pitch cues in the linguistic signal

Abstract

Linguistic analyses of tone and intonation, as well as experimental and clinical studies of pitch in the speech signal, indicate that pitch cues play various roles in language behavior. These different functions, occurring at different levels of grammar, are located along a continuum of linguistic structure from most structured (e.g., tones) to least structured (e.g. voice quality). Hemispheric laterality studies show that highly structured pitch contrasts are associated with left cerebral processing, whereas least structured pitch cues are specialized to the right hemisphere. Intermediate functional roles of pitch, those conveyed on intonation contours, which are made up of intricate meshings of both all‐or‐none and graded phenomena, are correspondingly ambiguous with respect to laterality. The studies reviewed lead to the conclusion that pitch in the acoustic signal is processed in the brain according to its functional context, properties of which may be specialized in either hemisphere.