{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T06:12:41Z","timestamp":1779257561794,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779235200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We present novel evidence that humans are capable of producing, perceiving, and cortically processing ultrasound (US), extending the recognized limits of human auditory function. This previously unacknowledged sensory ability was identified in an expert practitioner of the traditional Chinese health exercise \u201cThe Six Healing Sounds.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods and results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>High-resolution recordings demonstrated deliberate vocal emissions reaching up to 35 kHz, with nearly one third of the acoustic energy residing in the ultrasonic range. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) revealed a distinct cortical response to these US components, characterized by an additional early N1 peak at 87 ms in the left auditory cortex\u2014about 20\u201325 ms earlier than the conventional N1 response. Importantly, this US-specific component was entirely absent in a large cohort of 202 vocalists comprising 23 Chinese and 172 European trained singers and furthermore 7 experienced \u2018Healing Sound\u2019 singers, none of whom produced or perceived vocal US. Beyond cortical physiology, psychophysical testing demonstrated a unique perceptual strategy in the qigong practitioner: at very high frequencies his pitch perception shifted from spectral to fundamental mode, enabling him to reconstruct coherent auditory objects even when ultrasonic components were only weakly present.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This finding may reflect an exceptional adaptive neuroplastic mechanism integrating US into auditory and regulatory brain networks, akin to functional reorganizations observed in professional musicians. Taken together, these results provide the first demonstration in a human case study of intentional ultrasonic vocalization combined with cortical US processing in a human. The discovery not only challenges the traditional definition of auditory limits but also opens promising perspectives for the role of US in internal communication, vegetative regulation, and clinical neuromodulation. Low-intensity US stimulation may thus represent a novel therapeutic avenue for auditory and neurological disorders.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2026.1732840","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T05:47:25Z","timestamp":1779256045000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Rediscovery of a seventh sense: humans produce, perceive, and process ultrasound"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Peter","family":"Schneider","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Music Psychology and Brain Research Section, Department of Psychology, University of Graz","place":["Graz, Austria"]},{"name":"Department of Neurology, Section of Biomagnetism, University of Heidelberg Medical School","place":["Heidelberg, Germany"]},{"name":"Division of Neuroradiology, University of Heidelberg Medical School","place":["Heidelberg, Germany"]},{"name":"Latvian Academy of Music","place":["Riga, Latvia"]},{"name":"Heidelberg School of Chinese Medicine","place":["Heidelberg, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Qigong Research Institute","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ge","family":"Linbao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Qigong Research Institute","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Li","family":"Jie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM)","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mario","family":"Goncalves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Heidelberg School of Chinese Medicine","place":["Heidelberg, Germany"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Henry Johannes","family":"Greten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Heidelberg School of Chinese Medicine","place":["Heidelberg, Germany"]},{"name":"IBA University of Cooperative Sciences","place":["Darmstadt, Germany"]},{"name":"TCM Research Centre, Kinesiolab, Piaget Institute","place":["Porto, Portugal"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.1063\/1.2784683","article-title":"Echolocation in dolphins and bats","volume":"60","author":"Au","year":"2007","journal-title":"Phys. Today"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1038\/35002078","article-title":"Voice-selective areas in human auditory cortex","volume":"403","author":"Belin","year":"2000","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"7044","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhad020","article-title":"Temporal hierarchy of cortical responses reflects core-belt-parabelt organization of auditory cortex in musicians","volume":"33","author":"Benner","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cereb. Cortex"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1088","DOI":"10.1093\/cercor\/bhh068","article-title":"Distributed auditory cortical representations are modified when non-musicians are trained at pitch discrimination with 40 Hz amplitude modulated tones","volume":"14","author":"Bosnyak","year":"2004","journal-title":"Cereb. Cortex"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1041397","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2023.1041397","article-title":"Chronology of auditory processing and related co-activation in the orbitofrontal cortex depends on musical expertise","volume":"16","author":"B\u00fccher","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"60","DOI":"10.1007\/s40473-015-0039-0","article-title":"A review of low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound for clinical applications","volume":"2","author":"Bystritsky","year":"2015","journal-title":"Curr. Behav. Neurosci. Rep."},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1016\/j.brs.2011.03.0072","article-title":"A review of low-intensity focused ultrasound pulsation","volume":"4","author":"Bystritsky","year":"2011","journal-title":"Brain Stimul."},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1007\/s00441-014-1992-8","article-title":"Tinnitus: animal models and findings in humans","volume":"361","author":"Eggermont","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cell Tissue Res."},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1103\/revmodphys.65.413","article-title":"Magnetoencephalography\u2014theory, instrumentation, and applications to noninvasive studies of the working human brain","volume":"65","author":"H\u00e4m\u00e4l\u00e4inen","year":"1993","journal-title":"Rev. Mod. Phys."},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1117188","DOI":"10.3389\/fneur.2023.1117188","article-title":"Transcranial low-intensity ultrasound stimulation for treating central nervous system disorders: a promising therapeutic application","volume":"14","author":"Hu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Neurol."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0269001","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0269001","article-title":"EEG-based vibrotactile evoked brain-computer interfaces system: a systematic review","volume":"17","author":"Huang","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1","DOI":"10.4278\/ajhp.081013-LIT-248","article-title":"A comprehensive review of health benefits of qigong and tai chi","volume":"24","author":"Jahnke","year":"2010","journal-title":"Am. J. Health Promot."},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1126\/science.2063208","article-title":"Human ultrasonic speech perception","volume":"253","author":"Lenhardt","year":"1991","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref14","article-title":"VoceVistaVideo Pro\u2014Sound Visualization Software (5.7.1.7261 (2023)) [English, Deutsch, Polski; Win, Mac]. Sygyt Software","author":"Maass","year":"2004"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"531789","DOI":"10.1155\/2015\/531789","article-title":"Qigong as a traditional vegetative biofeedback therapy: long-term conditioning of physiological mind-body effects","volume":"2015","author":"Matos","year":"2015","journal-title":"Biomed. Res. Int."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"473","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn843","article-title":"The musician's brain as a model of neuroplasticity","volume":"3","author":"M\u00fcnte","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1121\/2-0000451","article-title":"Ultrasonic components of musical instruments","volume":"28","author":"Petrosino","year":"2016","journal-title":"In Proc. Meet. Acoust"},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.1038\/166571b0","article-title":"Upper limit of frequency for human hearing","volume":"166","author":"Pumphrey","year":"1950","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1339","DOI":"10.1126\/science.7079770","article-title":"Tonotopic organization of the human auditory cortex","volume":"216","author":"Romani","year":"1982","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1625403","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2025.1625403","article-title":"Harmonic vowels and neural dynamics: MEG evidence for auditory resonance integration in singing","volume":"19","author":"Saus","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref21","first-page":"40","volume-title":"Auditory Evoked magnetic fields and electric Potentials (Advances in Audiology)","author":"Scherg","year":"1990"},{"key":"ref22","first-page":"24","article-title":"Separation and identification of event-related potential components by brain electric source analysis","volume":"42","author":"Scherg","year":"1991","journal-title":"Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. Suppl."},{"key":"ref23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"336","DOI":"10.1162\/jocn.1989.1.4.336","article-title":"A source analysis of the late human auditory evoked potentials","volume":"1","author":"Scherg","year":"1989","journal-title":"J. Cogn. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref24","first-page":"32","article-title":"Two bilateral sources of the late AEP as identified by a spatio-temporal dipole model","volume-title":"Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol. Evoked Potentials Sect.","author":"Scherg","year":"1985"},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1016\/0168-5597(86)90014-6","article-title":"Evoked dipole source potentials of the human auditory cortex","volume":"65","author":"Scherg","year":"1986","journal-title":"Electroencephalogr. Clin. Neurophysiol."},{"key":"ref26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6430","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.0274-23.2023","article-title":"Neuroanatomical disposition, natural development, and training-induced plasticity of the human auditory system from childhood to adulthood: a 12-year study in musicians and nonmusicians","volume":"43","author":"Schneider","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"176","DOI":"10.1111\/nyas.14899","article-title":"Short-term plasticity of neuro-auditory processing induced by musical active listening training","volume":"1517","author":"Schneider","year":"2022","journal-title":"Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci."},{"key":"ref28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"688","DOI":"10.1038\/nn871","article-title":"Morphology of Heschl's gyrus reflects enhanced activation in the auditory cortex of musicians","volume":"5","author":"Schneider","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nat. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1241","DOI":"10.1038\/nn1530","article-title":"Structural and functional asymmetry of lateral Heschl's gyrus reflects pitch perception preference","volume":"8","author":"Schneider","year":"2005","journal-title":"Nat. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1080\/07494460903404402","article-title":"The neural basis of individual holistic and spectral sound perception","volume":"28","author":"Schneider","year":"2009","journal-title":"Contemp. Music. Rev."},{"key":"ref31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10937","DOI":"10.1523\/JNEUROSCI.5315-13.2014","article-title":"Size and synchronization of auditory cortex promotes musical, literacy, and attentional skills in children","volume":"34","author":"Seither-Preisler","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"324","DOI":"10.3389\/fnins.2016.00324","article-title":"Neural biomarkers for dyslexia, ADHD, and ADD in the auditory cortex of children","volume":"10","author":"Serrallach","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1282","DOI":"10.1152\/jn.01125.2002","article-title":"Tonotopic organization in human auditory cortex revealed by progressions of frequency sensitivity","volume":"91","author":"Talavage","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Neurophysiol."},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"222","DOI":"10.1016\/j.conb.2018.04.011","article-title":"Ultrasonic modulation of neural circuit activity","volume":"50","author":"Tyler","year":"2018","journal-title":"Curr. Opin. Neurobiol."},{"key":"ref35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1038\/s41583-022-00578-5","article-title":"Music in the brain","volume":"23","author":"Vuust","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1016\/s1364-6613(00)01816-7","article-title":"Structure and function of auditory cortex: music and speech","volume":"6","author":"Zatorre","year":"2002","journal-title":"Trends Cogn. Sci."},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"547","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn2152","article-title":"When the brain plays music: auditory-motor interactions in music perception and production","volume":"8","author":"Zatorre","year":"2007","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Neurosci."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"251","DOI":"10.1016\/S0006-8993(00)02475-6","article-title":"Human hearing enhanced by noise","volume":"869","author":"Zeng","year":"2000","journal-title":"Brain Res."},{"key":"ref40","first-page":"667","article-title":"The effect of Liu Zi Jue, a traditional Chinese qigong exercise, on the quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized controlled trial","volume":"21","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Altern. Complement. Med."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Neuroscience"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnins.2026.1732840\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]],"date-time":"2026-05-20T05:47:27Z","timestamp":1779256047000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnins.2026.1732840\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]]},"references-count":39,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fnins.2026.1732840"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fnins.2026.1732840","relation":{},"ISSN":["1662-453X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1662-453X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,20]]},"article-number":"1732840"}}