Figure 1.

Ventral and dorsal streams in absolute pitch processing. Brain regions that have previously been associated with absolute pitch might be integrated in the context of dual-stream models of auditory processing. Apart from larger cortical volumes and broader frequency tuning in core areas of Heschl's gyrus (HG), absolute pitch-specific structural and functional alterations have been identified in the planum temporale (PT) and the planum polare (PP), but also in higher-order regions, such as the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the DLPFC. The ventral stream might underlie pitch categorization in absolute pitch, whereas the dorsal stream might facilitate access to verbal codes necessary for pitch labeling. A1 = primary auditory cortex; R = rostral part of auditory cortex; RT = rostral-temporal part of auditory cortex.