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Lenc T, Peter V, Hooper C, Keller PE, Burnham D, Nozaradan S. Infants show enhanced neural responses to musical meter frequencies beyond low-level features. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13353. [PMID: 36415027 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Revised: 10/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Music listening often entails spontaneous perception and body movement to a periodic pulse-like meter. There is increasing evidence that this cross-cultural ability relates to neural processes that selectively enhance metric periodicities, even when these periodicities are not prominent in the acoustic stimulus. However, whether these neural processes emerge early in development remains largely unknown. Here, we recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) of 20 healthy 5- to 6-month-old infants, while they were exposed to two rhythms known to induce the perception of meter consistently across Western adults. One rhythm contained prominent acoustic periodicities corresponding to the meter, whereas the other rhythm did not. Infants showed significantly enhanced representations of meter periodicities in their EEG responses to both rhythms. This effect is unlikely to reflect the tracking of salient acoustic features in the stimulus, as it was observed irrespective of the prominence of meter periodicities in the audio signals. Moreover, as previously observed in adults, the neural enhancement of meter was greater when the rhythm was delivered by low-pitched sounds. Together, these findings indicate that the endogenous enhancement of metric periodicities beyond low-level acoustic features is a neural property that is already present soon after birth. These high-level neural processes could set the stage for internal representations of musical meter that are critical for human movement coordination during rhythmic musical behavior. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: 5- to 6-month-old infants were presented with auditory rhythms that induce the perception of a periodic pulse-like meter in adults. Infants showed selective enhancement of EEG activity at meter-related frequencies irrespective of the prominence of these frequencies in the stimulus. Responses at meter-related frequencies were boosted when the rhythm was conveyed by bass sounds. High-level neural processes that transform rhythmic auditory stimuli into internal meter templates emerge early after birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Lenc
- Institute of Neuroscience (IONS), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Varghese Peter
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
- School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Caitlin Hooper
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Peter E Keller
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
- Center for Music in the Brain & Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Denis Burnham
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Sylvie Nozaradan
- Institute of Neuroscience (IONS), Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, Canada
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Hoedlmoser K, Peigneux P, Rauchs G. Recent advances in memory consolidation and information processing during sleep. J Sleep Res 2022; 31:e13607. [DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kerstin Hoedlmoser
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience (CCNS), Laboratory for “Sleep, Cognition and Consciousness Research” University of Salzburg Salzburg Austria
| | - Philippe Peigneux
- UR2NF – Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit affiliated at CRCN – Centre for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences and UNI – ULB Neuroscience Institute Bruxelles Belgium
| | - Géraldine Rauchs
- UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, PhIND “Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders”, Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen‐Normandie Normandie Univ Caen France
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