Pre-target neural oscillations predict variability in the detection of small pitch changes

Pitch discrimination is important for language or music processing. Previous studies indicate that auditory perception depends on pre-target neural activity. However, so far the pre-target electrophysiological conditions which enable the detection of small pitch changes are not well studied, but might yield important insights into pitch-processing. We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) source imaging to reveal the pre-target effects of successful auditory detection of small pitch deviations from a sequence of standard tones. Participants heard a sequence of four pure tones and had to determine whether the last target tone was different or identical to the first three standard sounds. We found that successful pitch change detection could be predicted from the amplitude of theta (4–8 Hz) oscillatory activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) as well as beta (12–30 Hz) oscillatory activity in the right auditory cortex. These findings confirm and extend evidence for the involvement of theta as well as beta-band activity in auditory perception.