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T. Zaatar M, Alhakim K, Enayeh M, Tamer R. The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain Behav Immun Health 2024; 35:100716. [PMID: 38178844 PMCID: PMC10765015 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100716] [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: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/08/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Music is a universal language that can elicit profound emotional and cognitive responses. In this literature review, we explore the intricate relationship between music and the brain, from how it is decoded by the nervous system to its therapeutic potential in various disorders. Music engages a diverse network of brain regions and circuits, including sensory-motor processing, cognitive, memory, and emotional components. Music-induced brain network oscillations occur in specific frequency bands, and listening to one's preferred music can grant easier access to these brain functions. Moreover, music training can bring about structural and functional changes in the brain, and studies have shown its positive effects on social bonding, cognitive abilities, and language processing. We also discuss how music therapy can be used to retrain impaired brain circuits in different disorders. Understanding how music affects the brain can open up new avenues for music-based interventions in healthcare, education, and wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muriel T. Zaatar
- Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, American University in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Eierud C, Michael A, Banks D, Andrews E. Resting-state functional connectivity in lifelong musicians. PSYCHORADIOLOGY 2023; 3:kkad003. [PMID: 38666119 PMCID: PMC10917383 DOI: 10.1093/psyrad/kkad003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Background It has been postulated that musicianship can lead to enhanced brain and cognitive reserve, but the neural mechanisms of this effect have been poorly understood. Lifelong professional musicianship in conjunction with novel brain imaging techniques offers a unique opportunity to examine brain network differences between musicians and matched controls. Objective In this study we aim to investigate how resting-state functional networks (FNs) manifest in lifelong active musicians. We will evaluate the FNs of lifelong musicians and matched healthy controls using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Methods We derive FNs using the data-driven independent component analysis approach and analyze the functional network connectivity (FNC) between the default mode (DMN), sensory-motor (SMN), visual (VSN), and auditory (AUN) networks. We examine whether the linear regressions between FNC and age are different between the musicians and the control group. Results The age trajectory of average FNC across all six pairs of FNs shows significant differences between musicians and controls. Musicians show an increase in average FNC with age while controls show a decrease (P = 0.013). When we evaluated each pair of FN, we note that in musicians FNC values increased with age in DMN-AUN, DMN-VSN, and SMN-VSN and in controls FNC values decreased with age in DMN-AUN, DMN-SMN, AUN-SMN, and SMN-VSN. Conclusion This result provides early evidence that lifelong musicianship may contribute to enhanced brain and cognitive reserve. Results of this study are preliminary and need to be replicated with a larger number of participants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyrus Eierud
- Linguistics Program, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Andrew Michael
- Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - David Banks
- Department of Statistical Science, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Edna Andrews
- Linguistics Program, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
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Daikoku T, Wiggins GA, Nagai Y. Statistical Properties of Musical Creativity: Roles of Hierarchy and Uncertainty in Statistical Learning. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:640412. [PMID: 33958983 PMCID: PMC8093513 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.640412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Creativity is part of human nature and is commonly understood as a phenomenon whereby something original and worthwhile is formed. Owing to this ability, humans can produce innovative information that often facilitates growth in our society. Creativity also contributes to esthetic and artistic productions, such as music and art. However, the mechanism by which creativity emerges in the brain remains debatable. Recently, a growing body of evidence has suggested that statistical learning contributes to creativity. Statistical learning is an innate and implicit function of the human brain and is considered essential for brain development. Through statistical learning, humans can produce and comprehend structured information, such as music. It is thought that creativity is linked to acquired knowledge, but so-called "eureka" moments often occur unexpectedly under subconscious conditions, without the intention to use the acquired knowledge. Given that a creative moment is intrinsically implicit, we postulate that some types of creativity can be linked to implicit statistical knowledge in the brain. This article reviews neural and computational studies on how creativity emerges within the framework of statistical learning in the brain (i.e., statistical creativity). Here, we propose a hierarchical model of statistical learning: statistically chunking into a unit (hereafter and shallow statistical learning) and combining several units (hereafter and deep statistical learning). We suggest that deep statistical learning contributes dominantly to statistical creativity in music. Furthermore, the temporal dynamics of perceptual uncertainty can be another potential causal factor in statistical creativity. Considering that statistical learning is fundamental to brain development, we also discuss how typical versus atypical brain development modulates hierarchical statistical learning and statistical creativity. We believe that this review will shed light on the key roles of statistical learning in musical creativity and facilitate further investigation of how creativity emerges in the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuya Daikoku
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Geraint A. Wiggins
- AI Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
- School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yukie Nagai
- International Research Center for Neurointelligence (WPI-IRCN), The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Institute for AI and Beyond, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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Effects of Lifelong Musicianship on White Matter Integrity and Cognitive Brain Reserve. Brain Sci 2021; 11:brainsci11010067. [PMID: 33419228 PMCID: PMC7825624 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11010067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 01/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
There is a significant body of research that has identified specific, high-end cognitive demand activities and lifestyles that may play a role in building cognitive brain reserve, including volume changes in gray matter and white matter, increased structural connectivity, and enhanced categorical perception. While normal aging produces trends of decreasing white matter (WM) integrity, research on cognitive brain reserve suggests that complex sensory–motor activities across the life span may slow down or reverse these trends. Previous research has focused on structural and functional changes to the human brain caused by training and experience in both linguistic (especially bilingualism) and musical domains. The current research uses diffusion tensor imaging to examine the integrity of subcortical white matter fiber tracts in lifelong musicians. Our analysis, using Tortoise and ICBM-81, reveals higher fractional anisotropy, an indicator of greater WM integrity, in aging musicians in bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi and bilateral uncinate fasciculi. Statistical methods used include Fisher’s method and linear regression analysis. Another unique aspect of this study is the accompanying behavioral performance data for each participant. This is one of the first studies to look specifically at musicianship across the life span and its impact on bilateral WM integrity in aging.
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Bouhali F, Mongelli V, Thiebaut de Schotten M, Cohen L. Reading music and words: The anatomical connectivity of musicians' visual cortex. Neuroimage 2020; 212:116666. [PMID: 32087374 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2019] [Revised: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Musical score reading and word reading have much in common, from their historical origins to their cognitive foundations and neural correlates. In the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (VOT), the specialization of the so-called Visual Word Form Area for word reading has been linked to its privileged structural connectivity to distant language regions. Here we investigated how anatomical connectivity relates to the segregation of regions specialized for musical notation or words in the VOT. In a cohort of professional musicians and non-musicians, we used probabilistic tractography combined with task-related functional MRI to identify the connections of individually defined word- and music-selective left VOT regions. Despite their close proximity, these regions differed significantly in their structural connectivity, irrespective of musical expertise. The music-selective region was significantly more connected to posterior lateral temporal regions than the word-selective region, which, conversely, was significantly more connected to anterior ventral temporal cortex. Furthermore, musical expertise had a double impact on the connectivity of the music region. First, music tracts were significantly larger in musicians than in non-musicians, associated with marginally higher connectivity to perisylvian music-related areas. Second, the spatial similarity between music and word tracts was significantly increased in musicians, consistently with the increased overlap of language and music functional activations in musicians, as compared to non-musicians. These results support the view that, for music as for words, very specific anatomical connections influence the specialization of distinct VOT areas, and that reciprocally those connections are selectively enhanced by the expertise for word or music reading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence Bouhali
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France; Department of Psychiatry & Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
| | - Valeria Mongelli
- Neurobiology of Language Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Amsterdam Brain and Cognition (ABC), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Michel Thiebaut de Schotten
- Brain Connectivity and Behaviour Laboratory, Sorbonne Universities, Paris, France; Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle, Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives-UMR 5293, CNRS, CEA University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Laurent Cohen
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm U 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, ICM, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 75013, Paris, France; Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Fédération de Neurologie, F-75013, Paris, France
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Abstract
La memoria es una función cognitiva que permite al ser humano adquirir, almacenar y recuperar información. Dentro de la literatura se identifican diversos factores que tienen la capacidad de modificar la capacidad mnémica, así como también afectar las diferentes fases de formación de la memoria. En este sentido el objetivo del presente artículo de revisión sistemática estuvo orientado a presentar los antecedentes en cuanto al efecto de la música, como entrenamiento musical prolongado, así como intervención focal, sobre esta función cognitiva. Se seleccionaron 39 artículos de investigación empírica extraídos de diversas bases de datos. A través de la evidencia presentada se concluye que las propuestas musicales representan una potencial herramienta para abordar no sólo el estudio de la memoria, sino también para la estimulación y rehabilitación de la misma.
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Daikoku T. Statistical learning and the uncertainty of melody and bass line in music. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0226734. [PMID: 31856208 PMCID: PMC6922457 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Statistical learning is the ability to learn based on transitional probability (TP) in sequential information, which has been considered to contribute to creativity in music. The interdisciplinary theory of statistical learning examines statistical learning as a mechanism of human learning. This study investigated how TP distribution and conditional entropy in TP of the melody and bass line in music interact with each other, using the highest and lowest pitches in Beethoven’s piano sonatas and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. Results for the two composers were similar. First, the results detected specific statistical characteristics that are unique to each melody and bass line as well as general statistical characteristics that are shared between the melody and bass line. Additionally, a correlation of the conditional entropies sampled from the TP distribution could be detected between the melody and bass line. This suggests that the variability of entropies interacts between the melody and bass line. In summary, this study suggested that TP distributions and the entropies of the melody and bass line interact with but are partly independent of each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuya Daikoku
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.,Centre for Neuroscience in Education, Department of psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Daikoku T. Tonality Tunes the Statistical Characteristics in Music: Computational Approaches on Statistical Learning. Front Comput Neurosci 2019; 13:70. [PMID: 31632260 PMCID: PMC6783562 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2019.00070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Statistical learning is a learning mechanism based on transition probability in sequences such as music and language. Recent computational and neurophysiological studies suggest that the statistical learning contributes to production, action, and musical creativity as well as prediction and perception. The present study investigated how statistical structure interacts with tonalities in music based on various-order statistical models. To verify this in all 24 major and minor keys, the transition probabilities of the sequences containing the highest pitches in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, which is a collection of two series (No. 1 and No. 2) of preludes and fugues in all of the 24 major and minor keys, were calculated based on nth-order Markov models. The transition probabilities of each sequence were compared among tonalities (major and minor), two series (No. 1 and No. 2), and music types (prelude and fugue). The differences in statistical characteristics between major and minor keys were detected in lower- but not higher-order models. The results also showed that statistical knowledge in music might be modulated by tonalities and composition periods. Furthermore, the principal component analysis detected the shared components of related keys, suggesting that the tonalities modulate statistical characteristics in music. The present study may suggest that there are at least two types of statistical knowledge in music that are interdependent on and independent of tonality, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuya Daikoku
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
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Early Influence of Musical Abilities and Working Memory on Speech Imitation Abilities: Study with Pre-School Children. Brain Sci 2018; 8:brainsci8090169. [PMID: 30200479 PMCID: PMC6162612 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci8090169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 08/29/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Musical aptitude and language talent are highly intertwined when it comes to phonetic language ability. Research on pre-school children’s musical abilities and foreign language abilities are rare but give further insights into the relationship between language and musical aptitude. We tested pre-school children’s abilities to imitate unknown languages, to remember strings of digits, to sing, to discriminate musical statements and their intrinsic (spontaneous) singing behavior (“singing-lovers versus singing nerds”). The findings revealed that having an ear for music is linked to phonetic language abilities. The results of this investigation show that a working memory capacity and phonetic aptitude are linked to high musical perception and production ability already at around the age of 5. This suggests that music and (foreign) language learning capacity may be linked from childhood on. Furthermore, the findings put emphasis on the possibility that early developed abilities may be responsible for individual differences in both linguistic and musical performances.
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Gonzalez CLR, van Rootselaar NA, Gibb RL. Sensorimotor lateralization scaffolds cognitive specialization. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2018; 238:405-433. [PMID: 30097202 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In this chapter, we review hemispheric differences for sensorimotor function and cognitive abilities. Specifically, we examine the left-hemisphere specialization for visuomotor control and its interplay with language, executive function, and musical training. Similarly, we discuss right-hemisphere lateralization for haptic processing and its relationship to spatial and numerical processing. We propose that cerebral lateralization for sensorimotor functions served as a foundation for the development of higher cognitive abilities and their hemispheric functional specialization. We further suggest that sensorimotor and cognitive functions are inextricably linked. Based on the studies discussed in this chapter our view is that sensorimotor control serves as a loom upon which the fibers of language, executive function, spatial, and numerical processing are woven together to create the fabric of cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudia L R Gonzalez
- The Brain in Action Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada; Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada.
| | - Nicole A van Rootselaar
- The Brain in Action Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada; Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
| | - Robbin L Gibb
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
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