Finding a larger left planum temporale in musicians and those with perfect pitch was somewhat surprising for brain researchers. Their earlier studies had shown that the right side of the auditory cortex-the collection of brain cells above the right ear-was the crucial area for perceiving pitch, melody, harmony, timbre and rhythm.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/1282206.html?page=2&c=y********
In the most recent study (Patterson et al., 2002), they showed that the antero-lateral part of Heschl’s gyrus is particularly sensitive to the contrast between RI sounds and noise, and they concluded that this region was concerned with the extraction of pitch information from representations created in sub-cortical structures. They also inverted the contrast to try and identify regions where noise produced more activation than tonal sounds and, intriguingly, found none whatsoever, anywhere in the auditory pathway. The importance of lateral Heschl’s gyrus in pitch processing has also been emphasized by Gutschalk et al. (Gutschalk et al., 2002) who contrasted the MEG responses to regular and irregular click trains (CTs) with varying sound levels. They found a double dissociation involving a source in lateral Heschl’s gyrus that was sensitive to CT regularity but not to CT level and a source in PT that was sensitive to CT level but not to CT regularity.
http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/13/7/765******
Broca's region: is located in the frontal lobe, and, for most people, the left hemisphere (some left-handers have this area in the right hemisphere). Originally thought to be "the" speech center, it is now understood that a number of regions of the brain are involved in language behavior. More recently, Broca's area has been implicated in music processing, leading some researchers to suggest music may be processed as a language. Imaging studies have revealed that professional musicians trained at an early age have an increased volume of gray matter in Broca's area. Broca's area is part of a language and music processing network that includes Wernicke's area, the superior temporal sulcus, Heschl's gyrus, planum polare, planum temporale, and the anterior superior insular cortices.
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Language is a very important and complex function in humans, and unsurprisingly it involves a number of brain regions. The most famous is Broca's area. Recent research into neurological aspects of music have held some surprises. Imaging studies have revealed that, while the same area (the planum temporale) was active in all subjects listening to music, in non-musicians it was the right planum temporale that was most active, while in musicians the left side dominated. The left planum temporale is thought to control language processing. It has been suggested that musicians process music as a language. This left-brain activity was most pronounced in people who had started musical training at an early age (August 2001 news report).
Moreover, several studies have now demonstrated that there are significant differences in the distribution of gray matter in the brain between professional musicians trained at an early age and non-musicians. In particular, musicians have an increased volume of gray matter in Broca's area. The extent of this increase appears to depend on the number of years devoted to musical training. There also appears to be a very significant increase in the amount of gray matter in the part of the auditory cortex called the Heschl's gyrus (also involved in the categorical perception of speech sounds). (see news reports for October 2002 , June 2002 , May 2001)
An imaging study1 investigating the neural correlates of music processing found that " unexpected musical events" activated the areas of Broca and Wernicke, the superior temporal sulcus, Heschl's gyrus, both planum polare and planum temporale, as well as the anterior superior insular cortices. The important thing about this is that, while some of those regions were already known to be involved in music processing, the cortical network comprising all these structures has up to now been thought to be domain-specific for language processing.
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http://www.memory-key.com/Language/music.htm#Brocaedit: Note: location: Heschl's gyrus n. A small gyrus running transversely across the superior temporal gyrus (temporal operculum) on the upper surface of each temporal lobe immediately in front of the planum temporale. It is occupied by the primary auditory cortex and arranged in ...
(I was trying to find an image, but so far no luck.....)
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