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Bianco R, Zuk NJ, Bigand F, Quarta E, Grasso S, Arnese F, Ravignani A, Battaglia-Mayer A, Novembre G. Neural encoding of musical expectations in a non-human primate. Curr Biol 2024; 34:444-450.e5. [PMID: 38176416 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.12.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
The appreciation of music is a universal trait of humankind.1,2,3 Evidence supporting this notion includes the ubiquity of music across cultures4,5,6,7 and the natural predisposition toward music that humans display early in development.8,9,10 Are we musical animals because of species-specific predispositions? This question cannot be answered by relying on cross-cultural or developmental studies alone, as these cannot rule out enculturation.11 Instead, it calls for cross-species experiments testing whether homologous neural mechanisms underlying music perception are present in non-human primates. We present music to two rhesus monkeys, reared without musical exposure, while recording electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry. Monkeys exhibit higher engagement and neural encoding of expectations based on the previously seeded musical context when passively listening to real music as opposed to shuffled controls. We then compare human and monkey neural responses to the same stimuli and find a species-dependent contribution of two fundamental musical features-pitch and timing12-in generating expectations: while timing- and pitch-based expectations13 are similarly weighted in humans, monkeys rely on timing rather than pitch. Together, these results shed light on the phylogeny of music perception. They highlight monkeys' capacity for processing temporal structures beyond plain acoustic processing, and they identify a species-dependent contribution of time- and pitch-related features to the neural encoding of musical expectations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Bianco
- Neuroscience of Perception & Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy.
| | - Nathaniel J Zuk
- Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, 50 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK
| | - Félix Bigand
- Neuroscience of Perception & Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Eros Quarta
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Grasso
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Flavia Arnese
- Neuroscience of Perception & Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Ravignani
- Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Wundtlaan 1, 6525 XD Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Universitetsbyen 3, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Alexandra Battaglia-Mayer
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Giacomo Novembre
- Neuroscience of Perception & Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy.
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2
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Brattico E, Delussi M. Making sense of music: Insights from neurophysiology and connectivity analyses in naturalistic listening conditions. Hear Res 2024; 441:108923. [PMID: 38091866 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Abstract
According to the latest frameworks, auditory perception and memory involve the constant prediction of future sound events by the brain, based on the continuous extraction of feature regularities from the environment. The neural hierarchical mechanisms for predictive processes in perception and memory for sounds are typically studied in relation to simple acoustic features in isolated sounds or sound patterns inserted in highly certain contexts. Such studies have identified reliable prediction formation and error signals, e.g., the N100 or the mismatch negativity (MMN) evoked responses. In real life, though, individuals often face situations in which uncertainty prevails and where making sense of sounds becomes a hard challenge. In music, not only deviations from predictions are masterly set up by composers to induce emotions but sometimes the sheer uncertainty of sound scenes is exploited for aesthetic purposes, especially in compositional styles such as Western atonal classical music. In very recent magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) studies, experimental and technical advances in stimulation paradigms and analysis approaches have permitted the identification of prediction-error responses from highly uncertain, atonal contexts and the extraction of prediction-related responses from real, continuous music. Moreover, functional connectivity analyses revealed the emergence of cortico-hippocampal interactions during the formation of auditory memories for more predictable vs. less predictable patterns. These findings contribute to understanding the general brain mechanisms that enable us to predict even highly uncertain sound environments and to possibly make sense of and appreciate even atonal music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elvira Brattico
- Centre for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy.
| | - Marianna Delussi
- Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
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3
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Bianco R, Hall ET, Pearce MT, Chait M. Implicit auditory memory in older listeners: From encoding to 6-month retention. CURRENT RESEARCH IN NEUROBIOLOGY 2023; 5:100115. [PMID: 38020808 PMCID: PMC10663129 DOI: 10.1016/j.crneur.2023.100115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Any listening task, from sound recognition to sound-based communication, rests on auditory memory which is known to decline in healthy ageing. However, how this decline maps onto multiple components and stages of auditory memory remains poorly characterised. In an online unsupervised longitudinal study, we tested ageing effects on implicit auditory memory for rapid tone patterns. The test required participants (younger, aged 20-30, and older adults aged 60-70) to quickly respond to rapid regularly repeating patterns emerging from random sequences. Patterns were novel in most trials (REGn), but unbeknownst to the participants, a few distinct patterns reoccurred identically throughout the sessions (REGr). After correcting for processing speed, the response times (RT) to REGn should reflect the information held in echoic and short-term memory before detecting the pattern; long-term memory formation and retention should be reflected by the RT advantage (RTA) to REGr vs REGn which is expected to grow with exposure. Older participants were slower than younger adults in detecting REGn and exhibited a smaller RTA to REGr. Computational simulations using a model of auditory sequence memory indicated that these effects reflect age-related limitations both in early and long-term memory stages. In contrast to ageing-related accelerated forgetting of verbal material, here older adults maintained stable memory traces for REGr patterns up to 6 months after the first exposure. The results demonstrate that ageing is associated with reduced short-term memory and long-term memory formation for tone patterns, but not with forgetting, even over surprisingly long timescales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Bianco
- Ear Institute, University College London, WC1X 8EE, London, United Kingdom
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Laboratory, Italian Institute of Technology, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Edward T.R. Hall
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marcus T. Pearce
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, E1 4NS, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Maria Chait
- Ear Institute, University College London, WC1X 8EE, London, United Kingdom
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4
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Kim T, Chung M, Jeong E, Cho YS, Kwon OS, Kim SP. Cortical representation of musical pitch in event-related potentials. Biomed Eng Lett 2023; 13:441-454. [PMID: 37519879 PMCID: PMC10382469 DOI: 10.1007/s13534-023-00274-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Neural coding of auditory stimulus frequency is well-documented; however, the cortical signals and perceptual correlates of pitch have not yet been comprehensively investigated. This study examined the temporal patterns of event-related potentials (ERP) in response to single tones of pitch chroma, with an assumption that these patterns would be more prominent in musically-trained individuals than in non-musically-trained individuals. Participants with and without musical training (N = 20) were presented with seven notes on the C major scale (C4, D4, E4, F4, G4, A4, and B4), and whole-brain activities were recorded. A linear regression analysis between the ERP amplitude and the seven notes showed that the ERP amplitude increased or decreased as the frequency of the pitch increased. Remarkably, these linear correlations were anti-symmetric between the hemispheres. Specifically, we found that ERP amplitudes of the left and right frontotemporal areas decreased and increased, respectively, as the pitch frequency increased. Although linear slopes were significant in both groups, the musically-trained group exhibited marginally steeper slope, and their ERP amplitudes were most discriminant for frequency of tone of pitch at earlier latency than in the non-musically-trained group (~ 460 ms vs ~ 630 ms after stimulus onset). Thus, the ERP amplitudes in frontotemporal areas varied according to the pitch frequency, with the musically-trained participants demonstrating a wider range of amplitudes and inter-hemispheric anti-symmetric patterns. Our findings may provide new insights on cortical processing of musical pitch, revealing anti-symmetric processing of musical pitch between hemispheres, which appears to be more pronounced in musically-trained people. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13534-023-00274-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taehyoung Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Miyoung Chung
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Eunju Jeong
- Department of Music and Science for Clinical Practice, College of Interdisciplinary Industrial Studies, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yang Seok Cho
- School of Psychology, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Oh-Sang Kwon
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Sung-Phil Kim
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
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5
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Basiński K, Quiroga-Martinez DR, Vuust P. Temporal hierarchies in the predictive processing of melody - From pure tones to songs. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 145:105007. [PMID: 36535375 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Listening to musical melodies is a complex task that engages perceptual and memoryrelated processes. The processes underlying melody cognition happen simultaneously on different timescales, ranging from milliseconds to minutes. Although attempts have been made, research on melody perception is yet to produce a unified framework of how melody processing is achieved in the brain. This may in part be due to the difficulty of integrating concepts such as perception, attention and memory, which pertain to different temporal scales. Recent theories on brain processing, which hold prediction as a fundamental principle, offer potential solutions to this problem and may provide a unifying framework for explaining the neural processes that enable melody perception on multiple temporal levels. In this article, we review empirical evidence for predictive coding on the levels of pitch formation, basic pitch-related auditory patterns,more complex regularity processing extracted from basic patterns and long-term expectations related to musical syntax. We also identify areas that would benefit from further inquiry and suggest future directions in research on musical melody perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krzysztof Basiński
- Division of Quality of Life Research, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland
| | - David Ricardo Quiroga-Martinez
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute & Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, USA; Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Denmark
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Denmark
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6
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Fernández-Rubio G, Brattico E, Kotz SA, Kringelbach ML, Vuust P, Bonetti L. Magnetoencephalography recordings reveal the spatiotemporal dynamics of recognition memory for complex versus simple auditory sequences. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1272. [PMID: 36402843 PMCID: PMC9675809 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04217-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Auditory recognition is a crucial cognitive process that relies on the organization of single elements over time. However, little is known about the spatiotemporal dynamics underlying the conscious recognition of auditory sequences varying in complexity. To study this, we asked 71 participants to learn and recognize simple tonal musical sequences and matched complex atonal sequences while their brain activity was recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Results reveal qualitative changes in neural activity dependent on stimulus complexity: recognition of tonal sequences engages hippocampal and cingulate areas, whereas recognition of atonal sequences mainly activates the auditory processing network. Our findings reveal the involvement of a cortico-subcortical brain network for auditory recognition and support the idea that stimulus complexity qualitatively alters the neural pathways of recognition memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gemma Fernández-Rubio
- grid.7048.b0000 0001 1956 2722Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark ,grid.5012.60000 0001 0481 6099Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Elvira Brattico
- grid.7048.b0000 0001 1956 2722Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark ,grid.7644.10000 0001 0120 3326Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Sonja A. Kotz
- grid.5012.60000 0001 0481 6099Department of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Morten L. Kringelbach
- grid.7048.b0000 0001 1956 2722Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Vuust
- grid.7048.b0000 0001 1956 2722Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Leonardo Bonetti
- grid.7048.b0000 0001 1956 2722Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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7
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Taddeo S, Schulz M, Andermann M, Rupp A. Neuromagnetic representation of melodic contour processing in human auditory cortex. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:909159. [PMID: 36393993 PMCID: PMC9644163 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.909159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The pattern of ups and downs in a sequence with varying pitch can be heard as a melodic contour. Contrary to single pitch, the neural representation of melodic contour information in the auditory cortex is rarely investigated, and it is not clear whether the processing entails a hemispheric asymmetry. The present magnetoencephalography study assessed the neuromagnetic responses of N = 18 normal-hearing adults to four-note sequences with fixed vs. varying pitch that were presented either monaurally or diotically; data were analyzed using minimum-norm reconstructions. The first note of the sequences elicited prominent transient activity in posterior auditory regions (Planum temporale), especially contralateral to the ear of entry. In contrast, the response to the subsequent notes originated from more anterior areas (Planum polare) and was larger for melodic contours than for fixed pitch sequences, independent from the ear of entry and without hemispheric asymmetry. Together, the results point to a gradient in the early cortical processing of melodic contours, both in spatial and functional terms, where posterior auditory activity reflects the onset of a pitch sequence and anterior activity reflects its subsequent notes, including the difference between sequences with fixed pitch and melodic contours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Taddeo
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Martin Schulz
- Section of Biomagnetism, Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Martin Andermann
- Section of Biomagnetism, Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - André Rupp
- Section of Biomagnetism, Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany
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8
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Widmann A, Schröger E. Intention-based predictive information modulates auditory deviance processing. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:995119. [PMID: 36248631 PMCID: PMC9554204 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.995119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The human brain is highly responsive to (deviant) sounds violating an auditory regularity. Respective brain responses are usually investigated in situations when the sounds were produced by the experimenter. Acknowledging that humans also actively produce sounds, the present event-related potential study tested for differences in the brain responses to deviants that were produced by the listeners by pressing one of two buttons. In one condition, deviants were unpredictable with respect to the button-sound association. In another condition, deviants were predictable with high validity yielding correctly predicted deviants and incorrectly predicted (mispredicted) deviants. Temporal principal component analysis revealed deviant-specific N1 enhancement, mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a. N1 enhancements were highly similar for each deviant type, indicating that the underlying neural mechanism is not affected by intention-based expectation about the self-produced forthcoming sound. The MMN was abolished for predictable deviants, suggesting that the intention-based prediction for a deviant can overwrite the prediction derived from the auditory regularity (predicting a standard). The P3a was present for each deviant type but was largest for mispredicted deviants. It is argued that the processes underlying P3a not only evaluate the deviant with respect to the fact that it violates an auditory regularity but also with respect to the intended sensorial effect of an action. Overall, our results specify current theories of auditory predictive processing, as they reveal that intention-based predictions exert different effects on different deviance-specific brain responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Widmann
- Wilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Andreas Widmann,
| | - Erich Schröger
- Wilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Erich Schröger,
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9
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Mencke I, Omigie D, Quiroga-Martinez DR, Brattico E. Atonal Music as a Model for Investigating Exploratory Behavior. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:793163. [PMID: 35812236 PMCID: PMC9256982 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.793163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Atonal music is often characterized by low predictability stemming from the absence of tonal or metrical hierarchies. In contrast, Western tonal music exhibits intrinsic predictability due to its hierarchical structure and therefore, offers a directly accessible predictive model to the listener. In consequence, a specific challenge of atonal music is that listeners must generate a variety of new predictive models. Listeners must not only refrain from applying available tonal models to the heard music, but they must also search for statistical regularities and build new rules that may be related to musical properties other than pitch, such as timbre or dynamics. In this article, we propose that the generation of such new predictive models and the aesthetic experience of atonal music are characterized by internal states related to exploration. This is a behavior well characterized in behavioral neuroscience as fulfilling an innate drive to reduce uncertainty but which has received little attention in empirical music research. We support our proposal with emerging evidence that the hedonic value is associated with the recognition of patterns in low-predictability sound sequences and that atonal music elicits distinct behavioral responses in listeners. We end by outlining new research avenues that might both deepen our understanding of the aesthetic experience of atonal music in particular, and reveal core qualities of the aesthetic experience in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Mencke
- Department of Music, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
- *Correspondence: Iris Mencke,
| | - Diana Omigie
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David Ricardo Quiroga-Martinez
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University and Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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10
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Kern P, Heilbron M, de Lange FP, Spaak E. Cortical activity during naturalistic music listening reflects short-range predictions based on long-term experience. eLife 2022; 11:80935. [PMID: 36562532 PMCID: PMC9836393 DOI: 10.7554/elife.80935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Expectations shape our experience of music. However, the internal model upon which listeners form melodic expectations is still debated. Do expectations stem from Gestalt-like principles or statistical learning? If the latter, does long-term experience play an important role, or are short-term regularities sufficient? And finally, what length of context informs contextual expectations? To answer these questions, we presented human listeners with diverse naturalistic compositions from Western classical music, while recording neural activity using MEG. We quantified note-level melodic surprise and uncertainty using various computational models of music, including a state-of-the-art transformer neural network. A time-resolved regression analysis revealed that neural activity over fronto-temporal sensors tracked melodic surprise particularly around 200ms and 300-500ms after note onset. This neural surprise response was dissociated from sensory-acoustic and adaptation effects. Neural surprise was best predicted by computational models that incorporated long-term statistical learning-rather than by simple, Gestalt-like principles. Yet, intriguingly, the surprise reflected primarily short-range musical contexts of less than ten notes. We present a full replication of our novel MEG results in an openly available EEG dataset. Together, these results elucidate the internal model that shapes melodic predictions during naturalistic music listening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pius Kern
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenNetherlands
| | - Micha Heilbron
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenNetherlands
| | - Floris P de Lange
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenNetherlands
| | - Eelke Spaak
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and BehaviourNijmegenNetherlands
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11
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Bianco R, Novembre G, Ringer H, Kohler N, Keller PE, Villringer A, Sammler D. Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Is a Hub for Music Production from Structural Rules to Movements. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:3878-3895. [PMID: 34965579 PMCID: PMC9476625 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex sequential behaviors, such as speaking or playing music, entail flexible rule-based chaining of single acts. However, it remains unclear how the brain translates abstract structural rules into movements. We combined music production with multimodal neuroimaging to dissociate high-level structural and low-level motor planning. Pianists played novel musical chord sequences on a muted MR-compatible piano by imitating a model hand on screen. Chord sequences were manipulated in terms of musical harmony and context length to assess structural planning, and in terms of fingers used for playing to assess motor planning. A model of probabilistic sequence processing confirmed temporally extended dependencies between chords, as opposed to local dependencies between movements. Violations of structural plans activated the left inferior frontal and middle temporal gyrus, and the fractional anisotropy of the ventral pathway connecting these two regions positively predicted behavioral measures of structural planning. A bilateral frontoparietal network was instead activated by violations of motor plans. Both structural and motor networks converged in lateral prefrontal cortex, with anterior regions contributing to musical structure building, and posterior areas to movement planning. These results establish a promising approach to study sequence production at different levels of action representation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberta Bianco
- UCL Ear Institute, University College London, London WC1X 8EE, UK.,Otto Hahn Research Group Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Giacomo Novembre
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Rome 00161, Italy
| | - Hanna Ringer
- Otto Hahn Research Group Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany.,Institute of Psychology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig 04109, Germany
| | - Natalie Kohler
- Otto Hahn Research Group Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany.,Research Group Neurocognition of Music and Language, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany
| | - Peter E Keller
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark.,The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW 2751, Australia
| | - Arno Villringer
- Otto Hahn Research Group Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Daniela Sammler
- Otto Hahn Research Group Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig 04103, Germany.,Research Group Neurocognition of Music and Language, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany
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12
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Mencke I, Quiroga-Martinez DR, Omigie D, Michalareas G, Schwarzacher F, Haumann NT, Vuust P, Brattico E. Prediction under uncertainty: Dissociating sensory from cognitive expectations in highly uncertain musical contexts. Brain Res 2021; 1773:147664. [PMID: 34560052 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2021.147664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Predictive models in the brain rely on the continuous extraction of regularities from the environment. These models are thought to be updated by novel information, as reflected in prediction error responses such as the mismatch negativity (MMN). However, although in real life individuals often face situations in which uncertainty prevails, it remains unclear whether and how predictive models emerge in high-uncertainty contexts. Recent research suggests that uncertainty affects the magnitude of MMN responses in the context of music listening. However, musical predictions are typically studied with MMN stimulation paradigms based on Western tonal music, which are characterized by relatively high predictability. Hence, we developed an MMN paradigm to investigate how the high uncertainty of atonal music modulates predictive processes as indexed by the MMN and behavior. Using MEG in a group of 20 subjects without musical training, we demonstrate that the magnetic MMN in response to pitch, intensity, timbre, and location deviants is evoked in both tonal and atonal melodies, with no significant differences between conditions. In contrast, in a separate behavioral experiment involving 39 non-musicians, participants detected pitch deviants more accurately and rated confidence higher in the tonal than in the atonal musical context. These results indicate that contextual tonal uncertainty modulates processing stages in which conscious awareness is involved, although deviants robustly elicit low-level pre-attentive responses such as the MMN. The achievement of robust MMN responses, despite high tonal uncertainty, is relevant for future studies comparing groups of listeners' MMN responses to increasingly ecological music stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Mencke
- Department of Music, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, 60322 Frankfurt/Main, Germany; Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
| | - David Ricardo Quiroga-Martinez
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Diana Omigie
- Department of Psychology, University of London, Goldsmiths, SE14 6NW London, United Kingdom
| | - Georgios Michalareas
- Department of Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, 60322 Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Franz Schwarzacher
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Niels Trusbak Haumann
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus/Aalborg, Nørrebrogade 44, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark; Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Piazza Umberto I, 70121 Bari, Italy
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13
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Neural correlates of acoustic dissonance in music: The role of musicianship, schematic and veridical expectations. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260728. [PMID: 34852008 PMCID: PMC8635369 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In western music, harmonic expectations can be fulfilled or broken by unexpected chords. Musical irregularities in the absence of auditory deviance elicit well-studied neural responses (e.g. ERAN, P3, N5). These responses are sensitive to schematic expectations (induced by syntactic rules of chord succession) and veridical expectations about predictability (induced by experimental regularities). However, the cognitive and sensory contributions to these responses and their plasticity as a result of musical training remains under debate. In the present study, we explored whether the neural processing of pure acoustic violations is affected by schematic and veridical expectations. Moreover, we investigated whether these two factors interact with long-term musical training. In Experiment 1, we registered the ERPs elicited by dissonant clusters placed either at the middle or the ending position of chord cadences. In Experiment 2, we presented to the listeners with a high proportion of cadences ending in a dissonant chord. In both experiments, we compared the ERPs of musicians and non-musicians. Dissonant clusters elicited distinctive neural responses (an early negativity, the P3 and the N5). While the EN was not affected by syntactic rules, the P3a and P3b were larger for dissonant closures than for middle dissonant chords. Interestingly, these components were larger in musicians than in non-musicians, while the N5 was the opposite. Finally, the predictability of dissonant closures in our experiment did not modulate any of the ERPs. Our study suggests that, at early time windows, dissonance is processed based on acoustic deviance independently of syntactic rules. However, at longer latencies, listeners may be able to engage integration mechanisms and further processes of attentional and structural analysis dependent on musical hierarchies, which are enhanced in musicians.
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14
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Quiroga-Martinez DR, Hansen NC, Højlund A, Pearce M, Brattico E, Holmes E, Friston K, Vuust P. Musicianship and melodic predictability enhance neural gain in auditory cortex during pitch deviance detection. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:5595-5608. [PMID: 34459062 PMCID: PMC8559476 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
When listening to music, pitch deviations are more salient and elicit stronger prediction error responses when the melodic context is predictable and when the listener is a musician. Yet, the neuronal dynamics and changes in connectivity underlying such effects remain unclear. Here, we employed dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate whether the magnetic mismatch negativity response (MMNm)-and its modulation by context predictability and musical expertise-are associated with enhanced neural gain of auditory areas, as a plausible mechanism for encoding precision-weighted prediction errors. Using Bayesian model comparison, we asked whether models with intrinsic connections within primary auditory cortex (A1) and superior temporal gyrus (STG)-typically related to gain control-or extrinsic connections between A1 and STG-typically related to propagation of prediction and error signals-better explained magnetoencephalography responses. We found that, compared to regular sounds, out-of-tune pitch deviations were associated with lower intrinsic (inhibitory) connectivity in A1 and STG, and lower backward (inhibitory) connectivity from STG to A1, consistent with disinhibition and enhanced neural gain in these auditory areas. More predictable melodies were associated with disinhibition in right A1, while musicianship was associated with disinhibition in left A1 and reduced connectivity from STG to left A1. These results indicate that musicianship and melodic predictability, as well as pitch deviations themselves, enhance neural gain in auditory cortex during deviance detection. Our findings are consistent with predictive processing theories suggesting that precise and informative error signals are selected by the brain for subsequent hierarchical processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Quiroga-Martinez
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Niels Christian Hansen
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.,Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Andreas Højlund
- Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Marcus Pearce
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.,Department of Education, Psychology and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Emma Holmes
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK
| | - Karl Friston
- The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
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15
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Regev TI, Markusfeld G, Deouell LY, Nelken I. Context Sensitivity across Multiple Time scales with a Flexible Frequency Bandwidth. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:158-175. [PMID: 34289019 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Revised: 05/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Everyday auditory streams are complex, including spectro-temporal content that varies at multiple timescales. Using EEG, we investigated the sensitivity of human auditory cortex to the content of past stimulation in unattended sequences of equiprobable tones. In 3 experiments including 82 participants overall, we found that neural responses measured at different latencies after stimulus onset were sensitive to frequency intervals computed over distinct timescales. Importantly, early responses were sensitive to a longer history of stimulation than later responses. To account for these results, we tested a model consisting of neural populations with frequency-specific but broad tuning that undergo adaptation with exponential recovery. We found that the coexistence of neural populations with distinct recovery rates can explain our results. Furthermore, the adaptation bandwidth of these populations depended on spectral context-it was wider when the stimulation sequence had a wider frequency range. Our results provide electrophysiological evidence as well as a possible mechanistic explanation for dynamic and multiscale context-dependent auditory processing in the human cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar I Regev
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.,MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Geffen Markusfeld
- Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
| | - Leon Y Deouell
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.,Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190501, Israel
| | - Israel Nelken
- Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.,Department of Neurobiology, The Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
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16
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The auditory brain in action: Intention determines predictive processing in the auditory system-A review of current paradigms and findings. Psychon Bull Rev 2021; 29:321-342. [PMID: 34505988 PMCID: PMC9038838 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-01992-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
According to the ideomotor theory, action may serve to produce desired sensory outcomes. Perception has been widely described in terms of sensory predictions arising due to top-down input from higher order cortical areas. Here, we demonstrate that the action intention results in reliable top-down predictions that modulate the auditory brain responses. We bring together several lines of research, including sensory attenuation, active oddball, and action-related omission studies: Together, the results suggest that the intention-based predictions modulate several steps in the sound processing hierarchy, from preattentive to evaluation-related processes, also when controlling for additional prediction sources (i.e., sound regularity). We propose an integrative theoretical framework—the extended auditory event representation system (AERS), a model compatible with the ideomotor theory, theory of event coding, and predictive coding. Initially introduced to describe regularity-based auditory predictions, we argue that the extended AERS explains the effects of action intention on auditory processing while additionally allowing studying the differences and commonalities between intention- and regularity-based predictions—we thus believe that this framework could guide future research on action and perception.
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17
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Pesnot Lerousseau J, Schön D. Musical Expertise Is Associated with Improved Neural Statistical Learning in the Auditory Domain. Cereb Cortex 2021; 31:4877-4890. [PMID: 34013316 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
It is poorly known whether musical training is associated with improvements in general cognitive abilities, such as statistical learning (SL). In standard SL paradigms, musicians have shown better performances than nonmusicians. However, this advantage could be due to differences in auditory discrimination, in memory or truly in the ability to learn sequence statistics. Unfortunately, these different hypotheses make similar predictions in terms of expected results. To dissociate them, we developed a Bayesian model and recorded electroencephalography (EEG). Our results confirm that musicians perform approximately 15% better than nonmusicians at predicting items in auditory sequences that embed either low or high-order statistics. These higher performances are explained in the model by parameters governing the learning of high-order statistics and the selection stage noise. EEG recordings reveal a neural underpinning of the musician's advantage: the P300 amplitude correlates with the surprise elicited by each item, and so, more strongly for musicians. Finally, early EEG components correlate with the surprise elicited by low-order statistics, as opposed to late EEG components that correlate with the surprise elicited by high-order statistics and this effect is stronger for musicians. Overall, our results demonstrate that musical expertise is associated with improved neural SL in the auditory domain. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT It is poorly known whether musical training leads to improvements in general cognitive skills. One fundamental cognitive ability, SL, is thought to be enhanced in musicians, but previous studies have reported mixed results. This is because such musician's advantage can embrace very different explanations, such as improvement in auditory discrimination or in memory. To solve this problem, we developed a Bayesian model and recorded EEG to dissociate these explanations. Our results reveal that musical expertise is truly associated with an improved ability to learn sequence statistics, especially high-order statistics. This advantage is reflected in the electroencephalographic recordings, where the P300 amplitude is more sensitive to surprising items in musicians than in nonmusicians.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniele Schön
- Aix Marseille Univ, Inserm, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France
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18
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Clemente A, Pearce MT, Skov M, Nadal M. Evaluative judgment across domains: Liking balance, contour, symmetry and complexity in melodies and visual designs. Brain Cogn 2021; 151:105729. [PMID: 33887654 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Evaluative judgment-i.e., assessing to what degree a stimulus is liked or disliked-is a fundamental aspect of cognition, facilitating comparison and choosing among alternatives, deciding, and prioritizing actions. Neuroimaging studies have shown that evaluative judgment involves the projection of sensory information to the reward circuit. To investigate whether evaluative judgments are based on modality-specific or modality-general attributes, we compared the extent to which balance, contour, symmetry, and complexity affect liking responses in the auditory and visual modalities. We found no significant correlation for any of the four attributes across sensory modalities, except for contour. This suggests that evaluative judgments primarily rely on modality-specific sensory representations elaborated in the brain's sensory cortices and relayed to the reward circuit, rather than abstract modality-general representations. The individual traits art experience, openness to experience, and desire for aesthetics were associated with the extent to which design or compositional attributes influenced liking, but inconsistently across sensory modalities and attributes, also suggesting modality-specific influences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Clemente
- Human Evolution and Cognition Research Group (EvoCog), University of the Balearic Islands, Spain
| | - Marcus T Pearce
- School of Electronic Engineering & Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, UK; Centre for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
| | - Martin Skov
- Danish Research Center for Magnetic Resonance, Centre for Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Decision Neuroscience, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
| | - Marcos Nadal
- Human Evolution and Cognition Research Group (EvoCog), University of the Balearic Islands, Spain.
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19
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Sauvé SA, Cho A, Zendel BR. Mapping Tonal Hierarchy in the Brain. Neuroscience 2021; 465:187-202. [PMID: 33774126 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.03.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
In Western tonal music, pitches are organized hierarchically based on their perceived fit in a specific tonal context. This hierarchy forms scales that are commonly used in Western tonal music. The hierarchical nature of tonal structure is well established behaviourally; however, the neural underpinnings are largely unknown. In this study, EEG data and goodness-of-fit ratings were collected from 34 participants who listened to an arpeggio followed by a probe tone, where the probe tone could be any chromatic scale degree and the context any of the major keys. Goodness-of-fit ratings corresponded to the classic tonal hierarchy. N1, P2 and the Early Right Anterior Negativity (ERAN) were significantly modulated by scale degree. Furthermore, neural marker amplitudes and latencies were significantly correlated with similar magnitude to both pitch height and goodness-of-fit ratings. This is different from the clearer divide between pitch height correlating with early neural markers (100-200 ms) and tonal hierarchy correlating with late neural markers (200-1000 ms) reported by Sankaran et al. (2020) and Quiroga-Martinez et al. (2019). Finally, individual differences were greater than any main effects detected when pooling participants and brain-behavior correlations vary widely (i.e. r = -0.8 to 0.8).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A Sauvé
- Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1C 5S7, Canada.
| | - Alex Cho
- Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1C 5S7, Canada
| | - Benjamin Rich Zendel
- Division of Community Health and Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador A1C 5S7, Canada; Aging Research Centre - Newfoundland and Labrador, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, Canada
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20
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Bourke JD, Todd J. Acoustics versus linguistics? Context is Part and Parcel to lateralized processing of the parts and parcels of speech. Laterality 2021; 26:725-765. [PMID: 33726624 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2021.1898415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this review is to provide an accessible exploration of key considerations of lateralization in speech and non-speech perception using clear and defined language. From these considerations, the primary arguments for each side of the linguistics versus acoustics debate are outlined and explored in context of emerging integrative theories. This theoretical approach entails a perspective that linguistic and acoustic features differentially contribute to leftward bias, depending on the given context. Such contextual factors include stimulus parameters and variables of stimulus presentation (e.g., noise/silence and monaural/binaural) and variances in individuals (sex, handedness, age, and behavioural ability). Discussion of these factors and their interaction is also aimed towards providing an outline of variables that require consideration when developing and reviewing methodology of acoustic and linguistic processing laterality studies. Thus, there are three primary aims in the present paper: (1) to provide the reader with key theoretical perspectives from the acoustics/linguistics debate and a synthesis of the two viewpoints, (2) to highlight key caveats for generalizing findings regarding predominant models of speech laterality, and (3) to provide a practical guide for methodological control using predominant behavioural measures (i.e., gap detection and dichotic listening tasks) and/or neurophysiological measures (i.e., mismatch negativity) of speech laterality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse D Bourke
- School of Psychology, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
| | - Juanita Todd
- School of Psychology, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
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21
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Lumaca M, Dietz MJ, Hansen NC, Quiroga-Martinez DR, Vuust P. Perceptual learning of tone patterns changes the effective connectivity between Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale. Hum Brain Mapp 2020; 42:941-952. [PMID: 33146455 PMCID: PMC7856650 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Learning of complex auditory sequences such as music can be thought of as optimizing an internal model of regularities through unpredicted events (or “prediction errors”). We used dynamic causal modeling (DCM) and parametric empirical Bayes on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to identify modulation of effective brain connectivity that takes place during perceptual learning of complex tone patterns. Our approach differs from previous studies in two aspects. First, we used a complex oddball paradigm based on tone patterns as opposed to simple deviant tones. Second, the use of fMRI allowed us to identify cortical regions with high spatial accuracy. These regions served as empirical regions‐of‐interest for the analysis of effective connectivity. Deviant patterns induced an increased blood oxygenation level‐dependent response, compared to standards, in early auditory (Heschl's gyrus [HG]) and association auditory areas (planum temporale [PT]) bilaterally. Within this network, we found a left‐lateralized increase in feedforward connectivity from HG to PT during deviant responses and an increase in excitation within left HG. In contrast to previous findings, we did not find frontal activity, nor did we find modulations of backward connections in response to oddball sounds. Our results suggest that complex auditory prediction errors are encoded by changes in feedforward and intrinsic connections, confined to superior temporal gyrus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Lumaca
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Martin J Dietz
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Niels Chr Hansen
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.,Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - David R Quiroga-Martinez
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
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22
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Andermann M, Günther M, Patterson RD, Rupp A. Early cortical processing of pitch height and the role of adaptation and musicality. Neuroimage 2020; 225:117501. [PMID: 33169697 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Pitch is an important perceptual feature; however, it is poorly understood how its cortical correlates are shaped by absolute vs relative fundamental frequency (f0), and by neural adaptation. In this study, we assessed transient and sustained auditory evoked fields (AEFs) at the onset, progression, and offset of short pitch height sequences, taking into account the listener's musicality. We show that neuromagnetic activity reflects absolute f0 at pitch onset and offset, and relative f0 at transitions within pitch sequences; further, sequences with fixed f0 lead to larger response suppression than sequences with variable f0 contour, and to enhanced offset activity. Musical listeners exhibit stronger f0-related AEFs and larger differences between their responses to fixed vs variable sequences, both within sequences and at pitch offset. The results resemble prominent psychoacoustic phenomena in the perception of pitch contours; moreover, they suggest a strong influence of adaptive mechanisms on cortical pitch processing which, in turn, might be modulated by a listener's musical expertise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Andermann
- Section of Biomagnetism, Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
| | - Melanie Günther
- Section of Biomagnetism, Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Roy D Patterson
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EG, United Kingdom
| | - André Rupp
- Section of Biomagnetism, Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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