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The Neuroscience of Music Main points • Music is like language – Characterized by rhythmic sequential sounds – Has syntax: “rules” by which a sequence of notes is ordered – Conveys information Main points • Music is unlike language – Set of sounds is arguably smaller – Information content and rate is vastly greater in language – Musicianship is not nearly as prevalent: not everyone is a musician • Although some argue only a small number of people are actually “amusic” – Language is rarely used by groups • compare People's Mic to a symphony Main points • Music is universal e.g.: – Neolithic flutes produce similar musical intervals • Thus music hasn’t changed much in 35,000 years! – All moms sing to their babies – Very young children can move with rhythm What has Cognitive Neuroscience figured out about music: – Relationship between language and music? – Are musician’s brains different? What has Cognitive Neuroscience figured out about music: • Evidence from neuropsychology: – Aphasia and Amusia are doubly-dissociable • Aphasics can sing in tune but the lyrics are distorted • Amusia (tone-deafness) – Congenital or acquired – Normal speaking (including normal prosody) Functional imaging of Language and Music • Listening to music and listening to speech engage overlapping brain regions particularly: • Auditory cortex • dorsal pre-motor cortex (also for production) Why do you think these would be overlapping? Functional imaging of Language and Music • Listening to music and listening to speech engage overlapping brain regions particularly: • Auditory cortex • dorsal pre-motor cortex (also for production) • However, one general observation is that music processes tend to engage more right-hemisphere structures than left – Note this is generally the opposite of language processes, which tend to be strongly left-lateralized How does musical training affect the brain? • Skilled musicians are unique in that they – Start at a young age – Spend lots of time on practice – Does this lead to a difference in brain functional anatomy? Musicians differ from non-musicians • Ohinishi et al. 2001 compared musicians to nonmusicians in a passive (music) listening task Non- Musicians Musicians Musicians differ from non-musicians • Differences are in Planum Temporale and Dorsolateral Prefronatal Cortex – Left PT activation correlates (negatively) with age of start of musical training – Left dlPFC and left PT activation correlates with skill at solfege Musicians differ from non-musicians • Gaser & Schlaug (2003) looked for correlation between grey matter volume and musicianship (pro > amateur > non) • Billateral differences in somatosensory and primary motor • Left lateralized differences in inferior temporal gyrus and left pre-motor adjacent to Broca’s Perfect Pitch • Absolute (or “perfect”) pitch is the ability to name a pitch class (a “note”) without any reference – Not same as “relative pitch” • Very rare • More common in: – East asians (tonal language) – Early music training – Autism spectrum disorder and synesthesia Perfect Pitch • Loui et al. (2010) used Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) to show that people with AP have denser white-matter connection between superior and middle temporal gyri of the left hemisphere AP1 AP2 Controls Back to the connection between music and language • Is there a general picture that emerges from the contrasts between musicians and non-musicians? Back to the connection between music and language • Is there a general picture that emerges from the contrasts between musicians and non-musicians? • In very broad terms, musical training seems to push music processes onto language structures – Left lateralization for musicians – Left posterior temporal gyrus (in or near Wernicke’s) – Left lateral frontal cortex (in or near Broca’s) Music Synchronizes Brains • Musicians playing together exhibit synchronized brain electrical activity