Preattentive Cortical-Evoked Responses to Pure Tones, Harmonic Tones, and Speech: Influence of Music Training

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reduced attentional bias toward natural emotional sounds

Previous research has indicated that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) exerts an influence on attentional bias toward visual emotional information. However, it remains unclear whether the left DLPFC also play an important role in attentional bias toward natural emotional sounds. The current research employed the emotional spatial cueing paradigm, incorporating natural emotional sounds of considerable ecological validity as auditory cues. Additionally, high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) was utilized to examine the impact of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on attentional bias and its subcomponents, namely attentional engagement and attentional disengagement. The results showed that (1) compared to sham condition, anodal HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC reduced the attentional bias toward positive and negative sounds; (2) anodal HD-tDCS over the left DLPFC reduced the attentional engagement toward positive and negative sounds, whereas it did not affect attentional disengagement away from natural emotional sounds. Taken together, the present study has shown that left DLPFC, which was closely related with the top-down attention regulatory function, plays an important role in auditory emotional attentional bias.

The Impact of Music Perception on Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST)

Objective: The impact of listening to music on pain perception has been evaluated using questionnaires and numeric/visual analogue scales. In this study, the impact of music perception on sensory pain functions was measured by means of quantitative sensory testing. Methods: We enrolled 10 female and 10 male healthy subjects (10 of them were professional musicians). All subjects underwent, in total, four quantitative sensory testing measures (first: baseline; second: after pleasant music [Johannes Brahms, 3rd symphony, 3rd movement]; third: after unpleasant music [Krzysztof Penderecki, Threnos]; fourth: after a longer break). The pleasantness of music was evaluated using the Ertel differential scale. Results: After the participants listened to pleasant music, an increased sensitivity to cold stimuli (both threshold and pain), to mechanical stimuli (only for threshold), and to repeated stimuli (wind-up reaction) was noted. Listening to unpleasant music was not associated with changes in sensitivity. We did not observe any significant differences between male and female subjects or between musicians and non-musicians. There was no significant correlation between the rating of the music as pleasant/unpleasant and the different quantitative sensory testing measures. Conclusions: Our data show that listening to music inducing a pleasant feeling can increase the sensitivity to stimuli applied during a quantitative sensory testing session. This should be considered when performing or interpreting quantitative sensory testing examinations. Interestingly, this finding is in contrast to the observation that listening to music can decrease pain perception during painful procedures.

Investigating the neurocognitive background of speech perception with a fast multi-feature MMN paradigm

The speech multi-feature MMN (Mismatch Negativity) offers a means to explore the neurocognitive background of the processing of multiple speech features in a short time, by capturing the time-locked electrophysiological activity of the brain known as event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Originating from Näätänen et al. (Clin Neurophysiol 115:140-144, 2004) pioneering work, this paradigm introduces several infrequent deviant stimuli alongside standard ones, each differing in various speech features. In this study, we aimed to refine the multi-feature MMN paradigm used previously to encompass both segmental and suprasegmental (prosodic) features of speech. In the experiment, a two-syllable long pseudoword was presented as a standard, and the deviant stimuli included alterations in consonants (deviation by place or place and mode of articulation), vowels (deviation by place or mode of articulation), and stress pattern in the first syllable of the pseudoword. Results indicated the emergence of MMN components across all segmental and prosodic contrasts, with the expected fronto-central amplitude distribution. Subsequent analyses revealed subtle differences in MMN responses to the deviants, suggesting varying sensitivity to phonetic contrasts. Furthermore, individual differences in MMN amplitudes were noted, partially attributable to participants' musical and language backgrounds. These findings underscore the utility of the multi-feature MMN paradigm for rapid and efficient investigation of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying speech processing. Moreover, the paradigm demonstrated the potential to be used in further research to study the speech processing abilities in various populations.

Impact of Music Therapy on Quality of Life in Children with Cancer

BACKGROUND

Music therapy (MT) is a non-pharmacological treatment increasingly used to reduce stress and anxiety in hospitalized children affected by cancers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of MT on quality of life in children with cancer and determine its effect on cardiorespiratory rates.

METHODS

We conducted a quasi-experimental study between 1 April and 31 August 2021 at Bechir Hamza children's Hospital in Tunis, including children treated for cancer. The child or parent completed the PedsQL Module Cancer French version 3.0 questionnaires before and after four weekly music therapy sessions. The child's respiratory and heart rates were measured before and after each session.

RESULTS

We included 20 children whose mean age was 7 ± 4.5 years. The median value of the total questionnaire score increased from 57 [46; 70] to 72 [67; 85] (p < 10-3) noting a significant reduction in pain (p = 0.02), nausea (p = 0.009), and anxiety related to medical procedures (p = 0.009) and worry about the future (p = 0.005). We highlighted a significant decrease in respiratory and heart rate after MT (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

MT has positive impact on quality of life in children with cancer and reduces stress by lowering their cardiorespiratory rates.

Implicit auditory perception of local and global irregularities in passive listening condition

The auditory system detects differences in sounds at an implicit level, but data on this difference might not be sufficient to make explicit discrimination. The biomarkers of implicit auditory memory of ambiguous stimuli could shed light on unconscious auditory processing and implicit auditory learning. Mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a, components of event-related potentials (ERPs) reflecting stimuli discrimination without direct attention, were previously detected in response to the local (short-term) irregularity in the auditory sequence even in an unconscious state. At the same time, P3b was elicited only in case of direct attention in response to the global (long-term) irregularity. In this study, we applied the local-global auditory paradigm to obtain possible electrophysiological signatures of implicit detection of hardly distinguishable auditory stimuli. ERPs were recorded from 20 healthy volunteers during active discrimination of deviant sounds in the old-ball sequence and passive listening of the same sounds in the sequence with local-global irregularity. The discrimination task consisted of two blocks with different deviant sounds targeted to respond. The sound discrimination accuracy was at an average of 40%, implying the difficulty of explicit sound recognition. Comparing ERPs to standard and deviant sounds, we found posterior negativity in ERP around 450-600 ms in response to targeted deviant sounds. MMN was significant only in response to non-target deviants. In the passive local-global paradigm, we observed an anterior positivity (284-412 ms), compatible with P3a, in response to a violation of local regularity. Violation of global regularity elicited an anterior negative response (228-586 ms), resembling the N400 component of ERPs. Importantly, the other indexes of auditory discrimination, such as MMN and P3b, were insignificant in ERPs to both regularity violations. The observed P3a and N400 components of ERPs may reflect prediction error signals in the implicit perception of sound patterns even if behavioral recognition was poor.

Music-Based Interventions in Paediatric and Adolescents Oncology Patients: A Systematic Review

Background: The implications of cancer and its medical treatment are traumatic, highly stressful and have great psychosocial impact. Therefore, a comprehensive treatment is essential and music-based interventions can play an important role. The objective of this study is to summarise research that assesses the effects of music therapy in paediatric and adolescent patients with cancer during the process of the disease. Methods: A systematic review conducted following PRISMA’s statements. An electronic search of the literature was carried out in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane, Dialnet, Scopus, IDICEs CSIC and Science Direct. Original studies that conducted music-based interventions with oncology patients between 0 to 18 years old were included. Results: 11 studies were finally included in the review. The sample consisted of two quasi-experimental studies, five randomised clinical controlled trials, one non-randomised controlled trial, one study that involved qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, one descriptive study and one observational study. Conclusions: Music-based interventions decrease anxiety, perceived pain and depression symptoms and improve state of mind, self-esteem and quality of life of paediatric and adolescent patients with cancer. Moreover, they decrease heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure and encourage patients to use adaptive coping strategies.

Arcuate fasciculus architecture is associated with individual differences in pre-attentive detection of unpredicted music changes

The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event related brain potential (ERP) elicited by unpredicted sounds presented in a sequence of repeated auditory stimuli. The neural sources of the MMN have been previously attributed to a fronto-temporo-parietal network which crucially overlaps with the so-called auditory dorsal stream, involving inferior and middle frontal, inferior parietal, and superior and middle temporal regions. These cortical areas are structurally connected by the arcuate fasciculus (AF), a three-branch pathway supporting the feedback-feedforward loop involved in auditory-motor integration, auditory working memory, storage of acoustic templates, as well as comparison and update of those templates. Here, we characterized the individual differences in the white-matter macrostructural properties of the AF and explored their link to the electrophysiological marker of passive change detection gathered in a melodic multifeature MMN-EEG paradigm in 26 healthy young adults without musical training. Our results show that left fronto-temporal white-matter connectivity plays an important role in the pre-attentive detection of rhythm modulations within a melody. Previous studies have shown that this AF segment is also critical for language processing and learning. This strong coupling between structure and function in auditory change detection might be related to life-time linguistic (and possibly musical) exposure and experiences, as well as to timing processing specialization of the left auditory cortex. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time in which the relationship between neurophysiological (EEG) and brain white-matter connectivity indexes using DTI-tractography are studied together. Thus, the present results, although still exploratory, add to the existing evidence on the importance of studying the constraints imposed on cognitive functions by the underlying structural connectivity.

A Neurophysiological Study of Musical Pitch Identification in Mandarin-Speaking Cochlear Implant Users

Music perception in cochlear implant (CI) users is far from satisfactory, not only because of the technological limitations of current CI devices but also due to the neurophysiological alterations that generally accompany deafness. Early behavioral studies revealed that similar mechanisms underlie musical and lexical pitch perception in CI-based electric hearing. Although neurophysiological studies of the musical pitch perception of English-speaking CI users are actively ongoing, little such research has been conducted with Mandarin-speaking CI users; as Mandarin is a tonal language, these individuals require pitch information to understand speech. The aim of this work was to study the neurophysiological mechanisms accounting for the musical pitch identification abilities of Mandarin-speaking CI users and normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Behavioral and mismatch negativity (MMN) data were analyzed to examine musical pitch processing performance. Moreover, neurophysiological results from CI users with good and bad pitch discrimination performance (according to the just-noticeable differences (JND) and pitch-direction discrimination (PDD) tasks) were compared to identify cortical responses associated with musical pitch perception differences. The MMN experiment was conducted using a passive oddball paradigm, with musical tone C4 (262 Hz) presented as the standard and tones D4 (294 Hz), E4 (330 Hz), G#4 (415 Hz), and C5 (523 Hz) presented as deviants. CI users demonstrated worse musical pitch discrimination ability than did NH listeners, as reflected by larger JND and PDD thresholds for pitch identification, and significantly increased latencies and reduced amplitudes in MMN responses. Good CI performers had better MMN results than did bad performers. Consistent with findings for English-speaking CI users, the results of this work suggest that MMN is a viable marker of cortical pitch perception in Mandarin-speaking CI users.

Do rat auditory event related potentials exhibit human mismatch negativity attributes related to predictive coding?

Rodent models play a significant role in understanding disease mechanisms and the screening of new treatments. With regard to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, however, it is difficult to replicate the human symptoms in rodents because these symptoms are often either 'uniquely human' or are only conveyed via self-report. There is a growing interest in rodent mismatch responses (MMRs) as a translatable 'biomarker' for disorders such as schizophrenia. In this review, we will summarize the attributes of human MMN, and discuss the scope of exploring the attributes of human MMN in rodents. Here, we examine how reliably MMRs that are measured in rats mimic human attributes, and present original data examining whether manipulations of stimulus conditions known to modulate human MMN, do the same for rat MMRs. Using surgically-implanted epidural electroencephalographic electrodes and wireless telemetry in freely-moving rats, we observed human-like modulations of MMRs, namely that larger MMRs were elicited to unexpected (deviant) stimuli that a) had a larger change in pitch compared to the expected (standard) stimulus, b) were less frequently presented (lower probability), and c) had no jitter (stable stimulus onset asynchrony) compared to high jitter. Overall, these findings contribute to the mounting evidence for rat MMRs as a good analogue of human MMN, bolstering the development of a novel approach in future to validate the preclinical models based on a translatable biomarker, MMN.

Same or different pitch? Effects of musical expertise, pitch difference, and auditory task on the pitch discrimination ability of musicians and non-musicians

Musical expertise promotes both the perception and the processing of music. The aim of the present study was to analyze if musicians compared to non-musicians already have auditory processing advantages at the neural level. 50 musicians and 50 non-musicians worked on a task to determine the individual auditory difference threshold (individual JND threshold). A passive oddball paradigm followed while the EEG activity was recorded. Frequent standard sounds (528 hertz [Hz]) and rare deviant sounds (individual JND threshold, 535 Hz, and 558 Hz) were presented in the oddball paradigm. The mismatch negativity (MMN) and the P3a were used as indicators of auditory discrimination skills for frequency differences. Musicians had significantly smaller individual JND thresholds than non-musicians, but musicians were not faster than non-musicians. Musicians and non-musicians showed both the MMN and the P3a at the 535 Hz and 558 Hz condition. In the individual JND threshold condition, non-musicians, whose individual JND threshold was at 539.8 Hz (and therefore even above the deviant sound of 535 Hz), predictably showed the MMN and the P3a. Musicians, whose individual JND threshold was at 531.1 Hz (and thus close to the standard sound of 528 Hz), showed no MMN and P3a-although they were behaviorally able to differentiate frequencies individually within their JND threshold range. This may indicate a key role of attention in triggering the MMN during the detection of frequency differences in the individual JND threshold range (see Tervaniemi et al. in Exp Brain 161:1-10, 2005).

A lateral inhibition mechanism explains the dissociation between mismatch negativity and behavioral pitch discrimination

Although mismatch negativity (MMN), a change-specific component of auditory event-related potential, is considered to be an index of sound discrimination accuracy, the amplitude of the MMN responses elicited by pitch height deviations in musicians and tone language speakers with superior pitch discrimination is usually not enhanced compared to that elicited in individuals with inferior pitch discrimination. We hypothesized that superior pitch discrimination is accompanied by enhanced lateral inhibition, a critical neural mechanism that sharpens the tuning curves of the auditory neurons in the tonotopy. Forty Mandarin-speaking healthy adults completed an auditory EEG experiment in which MMN was elicited by pitch height deviations in both pure and harmonic tones. Their behavioral pitch discrimination was indexed by the difference limens measured using pure and harmonic tones. Behavioral pitch discrimination correlated significantly with the MMN elicited by pure tones, but not by harmonic tones; this could be due to lateral inhibition strongly influencing the MMN elicited by harmonic tones but having less effect on the MMN elicited by pure tones. As lateral inhibition is a neural mechanism for attenuating the amplitude of MMN, our results support the notion that an enhanced lateral inhibition mechanism underlies superior pitch discrimination.

Keys to staying sharp: A randomized clinical trial of piano training among older adults with and without mild cognitive impairment

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of dementia, the most expensive medical condition (Kirschstein, 2000 and Hurd et al., 2013 [1,2]), and its precursor, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are increasing [3]. Finding effective intervention strategies to prevent or delay dementia is imperative to public health. Prior research provides compelling evidence that central auditory processing (CAP) deficits are a risk factor for dementia [4-6]. Grounded in the information degradation theory [7, 8], we hypothesize that improving brain function at early perceptual levels (i.e., CAP) may be optimal to attenuate cognitive and functional decline and potentially curb dementia prevalence. Piano training is one avenue to enhance cognition [9-13] by facilitating CAP at initial perceptual stages [14-18].

OBJECTIVES

The Keys To Staying Sharp study is a two arm, randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of piano training relative to music listening instruction to improve CAP, cognition, and everyday function among older adults. In addition, the moderating effects of MCI status on piano training efficacy will be examined and potential mediators of intervention effects will be explored.

HYPOTHESES

We hypothesize that piano training will improve CAP and cognitive performance, leading to functional improvements. We expect that enhanced CAP will mediate cognitive gains. We further hypothesize that cognitive gains will mediate functional improvements.

METHOD

We plan to enroll 360 adults aged 60 years and older who will be randomized to piano training or an active control condition of music listening instruction and complete pre- and immediate post- assessments of CAP, cognition, and everyday function.

Neural Encoding of Pitch Direction Is Enhanced in Musically Trained Children and Is Related to Reading Skills

Musical training in childhood has been linked to enhanced sound encoding at different stages of the auditory processing. In the current study, we used auditory event-related potentials to investigate cortical sound processing in 9- to 15-year-old children (N = 88) with and without musical training. Specifically, we recorded the mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3a responses in an oddball paradigm consisting of standard tone pairs with ascending pitch and deviant tone pairs with descending pitch. A subsample of the children (N = 44) also completed a standardized test of reading ability. The musically trained children showed a larger P3a response to the deviant sound pairs. Furthermore, the amplitude of the P3a correlated with a pseudo-word reading test score. These results corroborate previous findings on enhanced sound encoding in musically trained children and are in line with studies suggesting that neural discrimination of spectrotemporal sound patterns is predictive of reading ability.

Music and Visual Art Training Modulate Brain Activity in Older Adults

Cognitive decline is an unavoidable aspect of aging that impacts important behavioral and cognitive skills. Training programs can improve cognition, yet precise characterization of the psychological and neural underpinnings supporting different training programs is lacking. Here, we assessed the effect and maintenance (3-month follow-up) of 3-month music and visual art training programs on neuroelectric brain activity in older adults using a partially randomized intervention design. During the pre-, post-, and follow-up test sessions, participants completed a brief neuropsychological assessment. High-density EEG was measured while participants were presented with auditory oddball paradigms (piano tones, vowels) and during a visual GoNoGo task. Neither training program significantly impacted psychometric measures, compared to a non-active control group. However, participants enrolled in the music and visual art training programs showed enhancement of auditory evoked responses to piano tones that persisted for up to 3 months after training ended, suggesting robust and long-lasting neuroplastic effects. Both music and visual art training also modulated visual processing during the GoNoGo task, although these training effects were relatively short-lived and disappeared by the 3-month follow-up. Notably, participants enrolled in the visual art training showed greater changes in visual evoked response (i.e., N1 wave) amplitude distribution than those from the music or control group. Conversely, those enrolled in music showed greater response associated with inhibitory control over the right frontal scalp areas than those in the visual art group. Our findings reveal a causal relationship between art training (music and visual art) and neuroplastic changes in sensory systems, with some of the neuroplastic changes being specific to the training regimen.

Basic auditory processing deficits and their association with auditory emotion recognition in schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

Individuals with schizophrenia are impaired in their ability to recognize emotions based on vocal cues and these impairments are associated with poor global outcome. Basic perceptual processes, such as auditory pitch processing, are impaired in schizophrenia and contribute to difficulty identifying emotions. However, previous work has focused on a relatively narrow assessment of auditory deficits and their relation to emotion recognition impairment in schizophrenia.

METHODS

We have assessed 87 patients with schizophrenia and 73 healthy controls on a comprehensive battery of tasks spanning the five empirically derived domains of auditory function. We also explored the relationship between basic auditory processing and auditory emotion recognition within the patient group using correlational analysis.

RESULTS

Patients exhibited widespread auditory impairments across multiple domains of auditory function, with mostly medium effect sizes. Performance on all of the basic auditory tests correlated with auditory emotion recognition at the p < .01 level in the patient group, with 9 out of 13 tests correlating with emotion recognition at r = 0.40 or greater. After controlling for cognition, many of the largest correlations involved spectral processing within the phase-locking range and discrimination of vocally based stimuli.

CONCLUSIONS

While many auditory skills contribute to this impairment, deficient formant discrimination appears to be a key skill contributing to impaired emotion recognition as this was the only basic auditory skill to enter a step-wise multiple regression after first entering a measure of cognitive impairment, and formant discrimination accounted for significant unique variance in emotion recognition performance after accounting for deficits in pitch processing.

Musical auditory processing, cognition, and psychopathology in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is associated with impairment in multiple domains of cognition and risk for several psychiatric disorders. Musical auditory processing is highly heritable, and is impaired in individuals with schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders, but has never been studied in 22q11DS, notwithstanding anecdotal evidence of its sparing. We aimed to characterize musical auditory processing in 22q11DS and explore potential relationships with other cognitive domains, musical engagement, and psychiatric disorders. The Distorted Tunes Task and Global Musical Sophistication Index were used to assess pitch discrimination and general musical engagement in 58 individuals with 22q11DS aged 8-29 years. Psychopathology was assessed with sections from the modified Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children and the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes. The Penn computerized neurocognitive battery (CNB) examined four domains of cognition (executive functioning, episodic memory, complex cognition, and social cognition). Significant musical auditory processing impairment and reduced musical engagement were found in individuals with 22q11DS. However, deficits in musical auditory processing were not associated with reduced musical engagement. After covarying for age and sex, episodic memory and overall CNB performance accuracy were significantly related to performance in musical auditory processing. There were no relationships between musical auditory processing and presence of any psychiatric diagnoses. Individuals with 22q11DS experience significant deficits in musical auditory processing and reduced musical engagement. Pitch discrimination is associated with overall cognitive ability, but appears to be largely independent of psychiatric illness.

Temporal and spectral EEG dynamics can be indicators of stealth placement

Stealth placement marketing, where consumers are unaware that they are being marketed to, attempts to reduce the audiences' resistance to traditional persuasive advertising. It is a form of advertising that involves targeted exposure of brands or products incorporated in other works, usually with or without explicit reference to the brands or products. Brand placement can be presented in different visual and auditory forms in video programs. The present study proposed that different 'representations' (i.e., representable or non-representable) and 'sounds' (i.e., speech or musical sound) of brand placement can affect the viewers' perception of the brand. Event-related potential results indicated significant differences in P1, N1, P2, N270, and P3. Further, event-related spectral perturbation results indicated significant differences in theta, alpha, beta, and gamma (30-100 Hz), in the right parietal, right occipital area, and limbic lobe. 'Non-representable' or 'speech sound' brand placement induced significant temporal and spectral EEG dynamics in viewers.

Early neural responses underlie advantages for consonance over dissonance

Consonant musical intervals tend to be more readily processed than dissonant intervals. In the present study, we explore the neural basis for this difference by registering how the brain responds after changes in consonance and dissonance, and how formal musical training modulates these responses. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were registered while participants were presented with sequences of consonant intervals interrupted by a dissonant interval, or sequences of dissonant intervals interrupted by a consonant interval. Participants were musicians and non-musicians. Our results show that brain responses triggered by changes in a consonant context differ from those triggered in a dissonant context. Changes in a sequence of consonant intervals are rapidly processed independently of musical expertise, as revealed by a change-related mismatch negativity (MMN, a component of the ERPs triggered by an odd stimulus in a sequence of stimuli) elicited in both musicians and non-musicians. In contrast, changes in a sequence of dissonant intervals elicited a late MMN only in participants with prolonged musical training. These different neural responses might form the basis for the processing advantages observed for consonance over dissonance and provide information about how formal musical training modulates them.

•

We registered ERPs after deviant intervals in consonant and dissonant sequences.

•

Violations of consonant sequences are detected independently of musical expertise.

•

Musical training modulates responses to violations of dissonant sequences.

•

These neural responses might form the basis for a processing advantage of consonance.

Planning music-based amelioration and training in infancy and childhood based on neural evidence

Music-based amelioration and training of the developing auditory system has a long tradition, and recent neuroscientific evidence supports using music in this manner. Here, we present the available evidence showing that various music-related activities result in positive changes in brain structure and function, becoming helpful for auditory cognitive processes in everyday life situations for individuals with typical neural development and especially for individuals with hearing, learning, attention, or other deficits that may compromise auditory processing. We also compare different types of music-based training and show how their effects have been investigated with neural methods. Finally, we take a critical position on the multitude of error sources found in amelioration and training studies and on publication bias in the field. We discuss some future improvements of these issues in the field of music-based training and their potential results at the neural and behavioral levels in infants and children for the advancement of the field and for a more complete understanding of the possibilities and significance of the training.

Using rotated speech to approximate the acoustic mismatch negativity response to speech

The mismatch negativity (MMN) response is influenced by the magnitude of the acoustic difference between standard and deviant, and the response is typically larger to linguistically relevant changes than to linguistically irrelevant changes. Linguistically relevant changes between standard and deviant typically co-occur with differences between the two acoustic signals. It is therefore not straightforward to determine the contribution of each of those two factors to the MMN response. This study investigated whether spectrally rotated speech can be used to determine the impact of the acoustic difference on the MMN response to a combined linguistic and acoustic change between standard and deviant. Changes between rotated vowels elicited an MMN of comparable amplitude to the one elicited by a within-category vowel change, whereas the between-category vowel change resulted in an MMN amplitude of greater magnitude. A change between rotated vowels resulted in an MMN ampltude more similar to that of a within-vowel change than a complex tone change did. This suggests that the MMN amplitude reflecting the acoustic difference between two speech sounds can be well approximated by the MMN amplitude elicited in response to their rotated counterparts, in turn making it possible to estimate the part of the response specific to the linguistic difference.

Neuromagnetic evaluation of a communication support system for hearing-impaired patients

Hearing-impaired patients often encounter obstacles in communication. Not all of them wear hearing aids, citing issues with usage difficulty and discomfort in wearing. To overcome these difficulties, a new endeavor was started to improve sound intelligibility from the speaker's side. The present study objectively evaluated an intelligible-hearing (IH) loudspeaker by means of magnetoencephalography. Magnetic counterparts of mismatch negativity (MMNm) to pronunciation ('mi' and 'ni') were recorded and compared when they were transmitted from the IH loudspeaker and from a normal-hearing loudspeaker. On using the IH loudspeaker, the peak latency was found to be significantly shortened. In the case of hearing-impaired participants, marked MMNm responses were observed only when the IH loudspeaker was used. These findings suggest that improving sound intelligibility may be a supportive and rehabilitative approach for hearing-impaired patients.

How regularity representations of short sound patterns that are based on relative or absolute pitch information establish over time: An EEG study

The recognition of sound patterns in speech or music (e.g., a melody that is played in different keys) requires knowledge about pitch relations between successive sounds. We investigated the formation of regularity representations for sound patterns in an event-related potential (ERP) study. A pattern, which consisted of six concatenated 50 ms tone segments differing in fundamental frequency, was presented 1, 2, 3, 6, or 12 times and then replaced by another pattern by randomly changing the pitch of the tonal segments (roving standard paradigm). In an absolute repetition condition, patterns were repeated identically, whereas in a transposed condition, only the pitch relations of the tonal segments of the patterns were repeated, while the entire patterns were shifted up or down in pitch. During ERP measurement participants were not informed about the pattern repetition rule, but were instructed to discriminate rarely occurring targets of lower or higher sound intensity. EPRs for pattern changes (mismatch negativity, MMN; and P3a) and for pattern repetitions (repetition positivity, RP) revealed that the auditory system is able to rapidly extract regularities from unfamiliar complex sound patterns even when absolute pitch varies. Yet, enhanced RP and P3a amplitudes, and improved behavioral performance measured in a post-hoc test, in the absolute as compared with the transposed condition suggest that it is more difficult to encode patterns without absolute pitch information. This is explained by dissociable processing of standards and deviants as well as a back propagation mechanism to early sensory processing stages, which is effective after less repetitions of a standard stimulus for absolute pitch.

Pre-attentive auditory discrimination skill in Indian classical vocal musicians and non-musicians

Objective

To test for pre-attentive auditory discrimination skills in Indian classical vocal musicians and non-musicians.

Design

Mismatch negativity (MMN) was recorded to test for pre-attentive auditory discrimination skills with a pair of stimuli of /1000 Hz/ and /1100 Hz/, with /1000 Hz/ as the frequent stimulus and /1100 Hz/ as the infrequent stimulus. Onset, offset and peak latencies were the considered latency parameters, whereas peak amplitude and area under the curve were considered for amplitude analysis.

Study sample

Exactly 50 participants, out of which the experimental group had 25 adult Indian classical vocal musicians and 25 age-matched non-musicians served as the control group, were included in the study. Experimental group participants had a minimum professional music experience in Indian classic vocal music of 10 years. However, control group participants did not have any formal training in music.

Results

Descriptive statistics showed better waveform morphology in the experimental group as compared to the control. MANOVA showed significantly better onset latency, peak amplitude and area under the curve in the experimental group but no significant difference in the offset and peak latencies between the two groups.

Conclusion

The present study probably points towards the enhancement of pre-attentive auditory discrimination skills in Indian classical vocal musicians compared to non-musicians. It indicates that Indian classical musical training enhances pre-attentive auditory discrimination skills in musicians, leading to higher peak amplitude and a greater area under the curve compared to non-musicians.

Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials Recorded From Nucleus Hybrid Cochlear Implant Users

OBJECTIVES

Nucleus Hybrid Cochlear Implant (CI) users hear low-frequency sounds via acoustic stimulation and high-frequency sounds via electrical stimulation. This within-subject study compares three different methods of coordinating programming of the acoustic and electrical components of the Hybrid device. Speech perception and cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEP) were used to assess differences in outcome. The goals of this study were to determine whether (1) the evoked potential measures could predict which programming strategy resulted in better outcome on the speech perception task or was preferred by the listener, and (2) CAEPs could be used to predict which subjects benefitted most from having access to the electrical signal provided by the Hybrid implant.

DESIGN

CAEPs were recorded from 10 Nucleus Hybrid CI users. Study participants were tested using three different experimental processor programs (MAPs) that differed in terms of how much overlap there was between the range of frequencies processed by the acoustic component of the Hybrid device and range of frequencies processed by the electrical component. The study design included allowing participants to acclimatize for a period of up to 4 weeks with each experimental program prior to speech perception and evoked potential testing. Performance using the experimental MAPs was assessed using both a closed-set consonant recognition task and an adaptive test that measured the signal-to-noise ratio that resulted in 50% correct identification of a set of 12 spondees presented in background noise. Long-duration, synthetic vowels were used to record both the cortical P1-N1-P2 "onset" response and the auditory "change" response (also known as the auditory change complex [ACC]). Correlations between the evoked potential measures and performance on the speech perception tasks are reported.

RESULTS

Differences in performance using the three programming strategies were not large. Peak-to-peak amplitude of the ACC was not found to be sensitive enough to accurately predict the programming strategy that resulted in the best performance on either measure of speech perception. All 10 Hybrid CI users had residual low-frequency acoustic hearing. For all 10 subjects, allowing them to use both the acoustic and electrical signals provided by the implant improved performance on the consonant recognition task. For most subjects, it also resulted in slightly larger cortical change responses. However, the impact that listening mode had on the cortical change responses was small, and again, the correlation between the evoked potential and speech perception results was not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

CAEPs can be successfully measured from Hybrid CI users. The responses that are recorded are similar to those recorded from normal-hearing listeners. The goal of this study was to see if CAEPs might play a role either in identifying the experimental program that resulted in best performance on a consonant recognition task or in documenting benefit from the use of the electrical signal provided by the Hybrid CI. At least for the stimuli and specific methods used in this study, no such predictive relationship was found.

Skilled musicians are not subject to the McGurk effect

The McGurk effect is a compelling illusion in which humans auditorily perceive mismatched audiovisual speech as a completely different syllable. In this study evidences are provided that professional musicians are not subject to this illusion, possibly because of their finer auditory or attentional abilities. 80 healthy age-matched graduate students volunteered to the study. 40 were musicians of Brescia Luca Marenzio Conservatory of Music with at least 8–13 years of musical academic studies. /la/, /da/, /ta/, /ga/, /ka/, /na/, /ba/, /pa/ phonemes were presented to participants in audiovisual congruent and incongruent conditions, or in unimodal (only visual or only auditory) conditions while engaged in syllable recognition tasks. Overall musicians showed no significant McGurk effect for any of the phonemes. Controls showed a marked McGurk effect for several phonemes (including alveolar-nasal, velar-occlusive and bilabial ones). The results indicate that the early and intensive musical training might affect the way the auditory cortex process phonetic information.

Enhanced auditory evoked potentials in musicians: A review of recent findings

Auditory evoked potentials serve as an objective mode for assessment to check the functioning of the auditory system and neuroplasticity. Literature has reported enhanced electrophysiological responses in musicians, which shows neuroplasticity in musicians. Various databases including PubMed, Google, Google Scholar and Medline were searched for references related to auditory evoked potentials in musicians from 1994 till date. Different auditory evoked potentials in musicians have been summarized in the present article. The findings of various studies may support as evidences for music-induced neuroplasticity which can be used for the treatment of various clinical disorders. The search results showed enhanced auditory evoked potentials in musicians compared to non-musicians from brainstem to cortical levels. Also, the present review showed enhanced attentive and pre-attentive skills in musicians compared to non-musicians.

The Effect of Aging and the High-Frequency Auditory Threshold on Speech-Evoked Mismatch Negativity in a Noisy Background

Mismatch negativity (MMN) has been widely used to study the function of central auditory processing in the elderly. However, current research has not yet considered the effect of noise and high-frequency hearing threshold on MMN in the elderly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aging and high-frequency hearing loss on speech-related MMN in noisy backgrounds. Additionally, the possible mechanisms of central auditory processing dysfunction in the elderly were investigated. Fifty people aged 61-80 (70 ± 5.8) years were recruited for this study. They were divided into a 61- to 70-year-old group and a 71- to 80-year-old group. Fifty younger adults aged 21-40 (31 ± 5.3) years were recruited as healthy controls. Pure-tone hearing thresholds were recorded. A speech discrimination score (SDS) and a speech-evoked MMN under white noise with a bandwidth from 125 to 8,000 Hz background condition were recorded. The relationships between SDS and MMN latency and amplitude were analyzed. The effects of age and binaural 2,000-, 4,000- and 8,000-Hz pure-tone hearing thresholds on MMN latency and amplitude were analyzed. We found that the hearing thresholds of 2,000, 4,000 and 8,000 Hz in the 61- to 70-year-old and 71- to 80-year-old groups were higher than those in the control group. The SDS in a noisy background in the 61- to 70-year-old and 71- to 80-year-old groups were lower than those in the control group. Speech-evoked MMN latency was longer in the 61- to 70-year-old and in the 71- to 80-year-old groups than in the control group (215.8 ± 14.2 ms). SDS and speech-evoked MMN latency were negatively correlated. Age and speech-evoked MMN latency were positively correlated, as were the binaural 4,000- to 8,000-Hz pure-tone hearing thresholds and speech-evoked MMN. This study suggests that in elderly subjects, the function of preattentive central auditory processing changes. Additionally, increasing age and high-frequency hearing thresholds create a synergy in neurons that is weakened in the MMN time window, which may be a cause of central auditory processing disorders in elderly subjects in noisy background conditions.

Interaction of Musicianship and Aging: A Comparison of Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials

Objective. The goal of this study was to begin to explore whether the beneficial auditory neural effects of early music training persist throughout life and influence age-related changes in neurophysiological processing of sound. Design. Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) elicited by harmonic tone complexes were examined, including P1-N1-P2, mismatch negativity (MMN), and P3a. Study Sample. Data from older adult musicians (n = 8) and nonmusicians (n = 8) (ages 55–70 years) were compared to previous data from young adult musicians (n = 40) and nonmusicians (n = 20) (ages 18–33 years). Results. P1-N1-P2 amplitudes and latencies did not differ between older adult musicians and nonmusicians; however, MMN and P3a latencies for harmonic tone deviances were earlier for older musicians than older nonmusicians. Comparisons of P1-N1-P2, MMN, and P3a components between older and young adult musicians and nonmusicians suggest that P1 and P2 latencies are significantly affected by age, but not musicianship, while MMN and P3a appear to be more sensitive to effects of musicianship than aging. Conclusions. Findings support beneficial influences of musicianship on central auditory function and suggest a positive interaction between aging and musicianship on the auditory neural system.

The investigation of cortical auditory evoked potentials responses in young adults having musical education

BACKGROUND

In the literature, music education has been shown to enhance auditory perception for children and young adults. When compared to young adult non-musicians, young adult musicians demonstrate increased auditory processing, and enhanced sensitivity to acoustic changes. The evoked response potentials associated with the interpretation of sound are enhanced in musicians. Studies show that training also changes sound perception and cortical responses. The earlier training appears to lead to larger changes in the auditory cortex.

AIMS

Most cortical studies in the literature have used pure tones or musical instrument sounds as stimuli signals. The aim of those studies was to investigate whether musical education would enhance auditory cortical responses when speech signals were used. In this study, the speech sounds extracted from running speech were used as sound stimuli.

STUDY DESIGN

Non-randomized controlled study.

METHODS

The experimental group consists of young adults up to 21 years-old, all with a minimum of 4 years of musical education. The control group was selected from young adults of the same age without any musical education. The experiments were conducted by using a cortical evoked potential analyser and /m/, /t/ /g/ sound stimulation at the level of 65 dB SPL. In this study, P1 / N1 / P2 amplitude and latency values were measured.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found in the amplitude values of P1 and P2 (p<0.05). The differences among the latencies were not found to be significantly important (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION

The results obtained in our study indicate that musical experience has an effect on the nervous system and this can be seen in cortical auditory evoked potentials recorded when the subjects hear speech.

Differences in sensory processing of German vowels and physically matched non-speech sounds as revealed by the mismatch negativity (MMN) of the human event-related brain potential (ERP)

We compared processing of speech and non-speech by means of the mismatch negativity (MMN). For this purpose, the MMN elicited by vowels was compared to those elicited by two non-speech stimulus types: spectrally rotated vowels, having the same stimulus complexity as the speech stimuli, and sounds based on the bands of formants of the vowels, representing non-speech stimuli of lower complexity as compared to the other stimulus types. This design allows controlling for effects of stimulus complexity when comparing neural correlates of processing speech to non-speech. Deviants within a modified multi-feature design differed either in duration or spectral property. Moreover, the difficulty to discriminate between the standard and the two deviants was controlled for each stimulus type by means of an additional active discrimination task. Vowels elicited a larger MMN compared to both non-speech stimulus types, supporting the concept of language-specific phoneme representations and the role of the participants' prior experience.

Musicianship facilitates the processing of Western music chords--an ERP and behavioral study

The present study addressed the effects of musicianship on neural and behavioral discrimination of Western music chords. In abstract oddball paradigms, minor chords and inverted major chords were presented in the context of major chords to musician and non-musician participants in a passive listening task (with EEG recordings) and in an active discrimination task. Both sinusoidal sounds and harmonically rich piano sounds were used. Musicians outperformed non-musicians in the discrimination task. Change-related mismatch negativity (MMN) was evoked to minor and inverted major chords in musicians only, and N1 amplitude was larger in musicians than non-musicians. While MMN was absent in non-musicians, both groups showed decreased N1 in response to minor compared to major chords. The results indicate that processing of complex musical stimuli is enhanced in musicians both behaviorally and neurally, but that major-minor chord categorization is present to some extent also in the absence of music training.

Musical expertise and foreign speech perception

The aim of this experiment was to investigate the influence of musical expertise on the automatic perception of foreign syllables and harmonic sounds. Participants were Cuban students with high level of expertise in music or in visual arts and with the same level of general education and socio-economic background. We used a multi-feature Mismatch Negativity (MMN) design with sequences of either syllables in Mandarin Chinese or harmonic sounds, both comprising deviants in pitch contour, duration and Voice Onset Time (VOT) or equivalent that were either far from (Large deviants) or close to (Small deviants) the standard. For both Mandarin syllables and harmonic sounds, results were clear-cut in showing larger MMNs to pitch contour deviants in musicians than in visual artists. Results were less clear for duration and VOT deviants, possibly because of the specific characteristics of the stimuli. Results are interpreted as reflecting similar processing of pitch contour in speech and non-speech sounds. The implications of these results for understanding the influence of intense musical training from childhood to adulthood and of genetic predispositions for music on foreign language perception are discussed.

The Linked Dual Representation model of vocal perception and production

The voice is one of the most important media for communication, yet there is a wide range of abilities in both the perception and production of the voice. In this article, we review this range of abilities, focusing on pitch accuracy as a particularly informative case, and look at the factors underlying these abilities. Several classes of models have been posited describing the relationship between vocal perception and production, and we review the evidence for and against each class of model. We look at how the voice is different from other musical instruments and review evidence about both the association and the dissociation between vocal perception and production abilities. Finally, we introduce the Linked Dual Representation (LDR) model, a new approach which can account for the broad patterns in prior findings, including trends in the data which might seem to be countervailing. We discuss how this model interacts with higher-order cognition and examine its predictions about several aspects of vocal perception and production.

Cortical encoding of pitch contour changes in cochlear implant users: a mismatch negativity study

A better understanding of melodic pitch perception in cochlear implants (CIs) may guide signal processing and/or rehabilitation techniques to improve music perception and appreciation in CI patients. In this study, the mismatch negativity (MMN) in response to infrequent changes in 5-tone pitch contours was obtained in CI users and normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Melodic contour identification (MCI) was also measured. Results showed that MCI performance was poorer in CI than in NH subjects; the MMNs were missing in all CI subjects for the 1-semitone contours. The MMNs with the 5-semitone contours were observed in a smaller proportion of CI than NH subjects. Results suggest that encoding of pitch contour changes in CI users appears to be degraded, most likely due to the limited pitch cues provided by the CI and deafness-related compromise of brain substrates.

Music training enhances the rapid plasticity of P3a/P3b event-related brain potentials for unattended and attended target sounds

Neurocognitive studies have shown that extensive musical training enhances P3a and P3b event-related potentials for infrequent target sounds, which reflects stronger attention switching and stimulus evaluation in musicians than in nonmusicians. However, it is unknown whether the short-term plasticity of P3a and P3b responses is also enhanced in musicians. We compared the short-term plasticity of P3a and P3b responses to infrequent target sounds in musicians and nonmusicians during auditory perceptual learning tasks. Target sounds, deviating in location, pitch, and duration with three difficulty levels, were interspersed among frequently presented standard sounds in an oddball paradigm. We found that during passive exposure to sounds, musicians had habituation of the P3a, while nonmusicians showed enhancement of the P3a between blocks. Between active tasks, P3b amplitudes for duration deviants were reduced (habituated) in musicians only, and showed a more posterior scalp topography for habituation when compared to P3bs of nonmusicians. In both groups, the P3a and P3b latencies were shortened for deviating sounds. Also, musicians were better than nonmusicians at discriminating target deviants. Regardless of musical training, better discrimination was associated with higher working memory capacity. We concluded that music training enhances short-term P3a/P3b plasticity, indicating training-induced changes in attentional skills.

Music education for improving reading skills in children and adolescents with dyslexia

BACKGROUND

Dyslexia (or developmental dyslexia or specific reading disability) is a specific learning disorder that has a neurobiological origin. It is marked by difficulties with accurate or fluent recognition of words and poor spelling in people who have average or above average intelligence and these difficulties cannot be attributed to another cause, for example, poor vision, hearing difficulty, or lack of socio-environmental opportunities, motivation, or adequate instruction. Studies have correlated reading skills with musical abilities. It has been hypothesized that musical training may be able to remediate timing difficulties, improve pitch perception, or increase spatial awareness, thereby having a positive effect on skills needed in the development of language and literacy.

OBJECTIVES

To study the effectiveness of music education on reading skills (that is, oral reading skills, reading comprehension, reading fluency, phonological awareness, and spelling) in children and adolescents with dyslexia.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the following electronic databases in June 2012: CENTRAL (2012, Issue 5), MEDLINE (1948 to May Week 4 2012 ), EMBASE (1980 to 2012 Week 22), CINAHL (searched 7 June 2012), LILACS (searched 7 June 2012), PsycINFO (1887 to May Week 5 2012), ERIC (searched 7 June 2012), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (1970 to 6 June 2012), Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Sciences and Humanities (1990 to 6 June 2012), and WorldCat (searched 7 June 2012). We also searched the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and reference lists of studies. We did not apply any date or language limits.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We planned to include randomized controlled trials. We looked for studies that included at least one of our primary outcomes. The primary outcomes were related to the main domain of the reading: oral reading skills, reading comprehension, reading fluency, phonological awareness, and spelling, measured through validated instruments. The secondary outcomes were self esteem and academic achievement.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two authors (HCM and RBA) independently screened all titles and abstracts identified through the search strategy to determine their eligibility. For our analysis we had planned to use mean difference for continuous data, with 95% confidence intervals, and to use the random-effects statistical model when the effect estimates of two or more studies could be combined in a meta-analysis.

MAIN RESULTS

We retrieved 851 references via the search strategy. No randomized controlled trials testing music education for the improvement of reading skills in children with dyslexia could be included in this review.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is no evidence available from randomized controlled trials on which to base a judgment about the effectiveness of music education for the improvement of reading skills in children and adolescents with dyslexia. This uncertainty warrants further research via randomized controlled trials, involving a interdisciplinary team: musicians, hearing and speech therapists, psychologists, and physicians.

Musicians have fine-tuned neural distinction of speech syllables

One of the benefits musicians derive from their training is an increased ability to detect small differences between sounds. Here, we asked whether musicians' experience discriminating sounds on the basis of small acoustic differences confers advantages in the subcortical differentiation of closely related speech sounds (e.g., /ba/ and /ga/), distinguishable only by their harmonic spectra (i.e., their second formant trajectories). Although the second formant is particularly important for distinguishing stop consonants, auditory brainstem neurons do not phase-lock to its frequency range (above 1000 Hz). Instead, brainstem neurons convert this high-frequency content into neural response timing differences. As such, speech tokens with higher formant frequencies elicit earlier brainstem responses than those with lower formant frequencies. By measuring the degree to which subcortical response timing differs to the speech syllables /ba/, /da/, and /ga/ in adult musicians and nonmusicians, we reveal that musicians demonstrate enhanced subcortical discrimination of closely related speech sounds. Furthermore, the extent of subcortical consonant discrimination correlates with speech-in-noise perception. Taken together, these findings show a musician enhancement for the neural processing of speech and reveal a biological mechanism contributing to musicians' enhanced speech perception in noise.

Music training enhances rapid neural plasticity of n1 and p2 source activation for unattended sounds

Neurocognitive studies have demonstrated that long-term music training enhances the processing of unattended sounds. It is not clear, however, whether music training also modulates rapid (within tens of minutes) neural plasticity for sound encoding. To study this phenomenon, we examined whether adult musicians display enhanced rapid neural plasticity compared to non-musicians. More specifically, we compared the modulation of P1, N1, and P2 responses to standard sounds between four unattended passive blocks. Among the standard sounds, infrequently presented deviant sounds were presented (the so-called oddball paradigm). In the middle of the experiment (after two blocks), an active task was presented. Source analysis for event-related potentials (ERPs) showed that N1 and P2 source activation was selectively decreased in musicians after 15 min of passive exposure to sounds and that P2 source activation was found to be re-enhanced after the active task in musicians. Additionally, ERP analysis revealed that in both musicians and non-musicians, P2 ERP amplitude was enhanced after 15 min of passive exposure but only at the frontal electrodes. Furthermore, in musicians, the N1 ERP was enhanced after the active discrimination task but only at the parietal electrodes. Musical training modulates the rapid neural plasticity reflected in N1 and P2 source activation for unattended regular standard sounds. Enhanced rapid plasticity of N1 and P2 is likely to reflect faster auditory perceptual learning in musicians.

Electromagnetic correlates of musical expertise in processing of tone patterns

Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we investigated the influence of long term musical training on the processing of partly imagined tone patterns (imagery condition) compared to the same perceived patterns (perceptual condition). The magnetic counterpart of the mismatch negativity (MMNm) was recorded and compared between musicians and non-musicians in order to assess the effect of musical training on the detection of deviants to tone patterns. The results indicated a clear MMNm in the perceptual condition as well as in a simple pitch oddball (control) condition in both groups. However, there was no significant mismatch response in either group in the imagery condition despite above chance behavioral performance in the task of detecting deviant tones. The latency and the laterality of the MMNm in the perceptual condition differed significantly between groups, with an earlier MMNm in musicians, especially in the left hemisphere. In contrast the MMNm amplitudes did not differ significantly between groups. The behavioral results revealed a clear effect of long-term musical training in both experimental conditions. The obtained results represent new evidence that the processing of tone patterns is faster and more strongly lateralized in musically trained subjects, which is consistent with other findings in different paradigms of enhanced auditory neural system functioning due to long-term musical training.

ERP correlates of auditory processing during automatic correction of unexpected perturbations in voice auditory feedback

Auditory sensory processing is an important element of the neural mechanisms controlling human vocalization. We evaluated which components of Event Related Potentials (ERP) elicited by the unexpected shift of fundamental frequency in a subject's own voice might correlate with his/her ability to process auditory information. A significant negative correlation between the latency of the N1 component of the ERP and the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia scores for Melodic organization was found. A possible functional role of neuronal activity underling the N1 component in voice control mechanisms is discussed.