Melodic Contour Identification Reflects the Cognitive Threshold of Aging

Lights on music cognition: A systematic and critical review of fNIRS applications and future perspectives

Research investigating the neural processes related to music perception and production constitutes a well-established field within the cognitive neurosciences. While most neuroimaging tools have limitations in studying the complexity of musical experiences, functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) represents a promising, relatively new tool for studying music processes in both laboratory and ecological settings, which is also suitable for both typical and pathological populations across development. Here we systematically review fNIRS studies on music cognition, highlighting prospects and potentialities. We also include an overview of fNIRS basic theory, together with a brief comparison to characteristics of other neuroimaging tools. Fifty-nine studies meeting inclusion criteria (i.e., using fNIRS with music as the primary stimulus) are presented across five thematic sections. Critical discussion of methodology leads us to propose guidelines of good practices aiming for robust signal analyses and reproducibility. A continuously updated world map is proposed, including basic information from studies meeting the inclusion criteria. It provides an organized, accessible, and updatable reference database, which could serve as a catalyst for future collaborations within the community. In conclusion, fNIRS shows potential for investigating cognitive processes in music, particularly in ecological contexts and with special populations, aligning with current research priorities in music cognition.

Understanding the Effect of Listening to Music, Playing Music, and Singing on Brain Function: A Scoping Review of fNIRS Studies

Music is integrated into daily life when listening to it, playing it, and singing, uniquely modulating brain activity. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), celebrated for its ecological validity, has been used to elucidate this music-brain interaction. This scoping review synthesizes 22 empirical studies using fNIRS to explore the intricate relationship between music and brain function. This synthesis of existing evidence reveals that diverse musical activities, such as listening to music, singing, and playing instruments, evoke unique brain responses influenced by individual traits and musical attributes. A further analysis identifies five key themes, including the effect of passive and active music experiences on relevant human brain areas, lateralization in music perception, individual variations in neural responses, neural synchronization in musical performance, and new insights fNIRS has revealed in these lines of research. While this review highlights the limited focus on specific brain regions and the lack of comparative analyses between musicians and non-musicians, it emphasizes the need for future research to investigate the complex interplay between music and the human brain.

Criterion-Related Validation of a Music-Based Attention Assessment for Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury

The music-based attention assessment (MAA) is a melody contour identification task that evaluates different types of attention. Previous studies have examined the psychometric and physiological validity of the MAA across various age groups in clinical and typical populations. The purpose of this study was to confirm the MAA's criterion validity in individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to correlate this with standardized neuropsychological measurements. The MAA and various neurocognitive tests (i.e., the Wechsler adult intelligence scale DST, Delis-Kaplan executive functioning scale color-word interference test, and Conner's continuous performance test) were administered to 38 patients within two weeks prior to or post to the MAA administration. Significant correlations between MAA and neurocognitive batteries were found, indicating the potential of MAA as a valid measure of different types of attention deficits. An additional multiple regression analysis revealed that MAA was a significant factor in predicting attention ability.

Pitch Processing Can Indicate Cognitive Alterations in Chronic Liver Disease: An fNIRS Study

Early detection and evaluation of cognitive alteration in chronic liver disease is important for predicting the subsequent development of hepatic encephalopathy. While visuomotor tasks have been rigorously employed for cognitive evaluation in chronic liver disease, there is a paucity of auditory processing task. Here we focused on auditory perception and examined behavioral and haemodynamic responses to a melodic contour identification task (CIT) to compare cognitive abilities in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD, N = 30) and healthy controls (N = 25). Further, we used support vector machines to examine the optimal combination of channels of functional near-infrared spectroscopy that can classify cognitive alterations in CLD. Behavioral findings showed that CIT performance was significantly worse in the patient group and CIT significantly correlated with neurocognitive evaluation (i.e., number connection test, digit span test). The findings indicated that CIT can measure auditory cognitive capacity and its difference existing between patient group and healthy controls. Additionally, optimal subsets classified the 16-dimensional haemodynamic data with 78.35% classification accuracy, yielding markers of cognitive alterations in the prefrontal regions (CH6, CH7, CH10, CH13, CH14, and CH16). The results confirmed the potential use of behavioral as well as haemodynamic responses to music perception as an alternative or supplementary method for evaluating cognitive alterations in chronic liver disease.

A Systematic Review of the Application of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to the Study of Cerebral Hemodynamics in Healthy Aging

Positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown that healthy aging is associated with functional brain deterioration that preferentially affects the prefrontal cortex. This article reviews the application of an alternative method, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), to the study of age-related changes in cerebral hemodynamics and factors that influence cerebral hemodynamics in the elderly population. We conducted literature searches in PudMed and PsycINFO, and selected only English original research articles that used fNIRS to study healthy individuals with a mean age of ≥ 55 years. All articles were published in peer-reviewed journals between 1977 and May 2019. We synthesized 114 fNIRS studies examining hemodynamic changes that occurred in the resting state and during the tasks of sensation and perception, motor control, semantic processing, word retrieval, attentional shifting, inhibitory control, memory, and emotion and motivation in healthy older adults. This review, which was not registered in a registry, reveals an age-related reduction in resting-state cerebral oxygenation and connectivity in the prefrontal cortex. It also shows that aging is associated with a reduction in functional hemispheric asymmetry and increased compensatory activity in the frontal lobe across multiple task domains. In addition, this article describes the beneficial effects of healthy lifestyles and the detrimental effects of cardiovascular disease risk factors on brain functioning among nondemented older adults. Limitations of this review include exclusion of gray and non-English literature and lack of meta-analysis. Altogether, the fNIRS literature provides some support for various neurocognitive aging theories derived from task-based PET and fMRI studies. Because fNIRS is relatively motion-tolerant and environmentally unconstrained, it is a promising tool for fostering the development of aging biomarkers and antiaging interventions.

High Oxygen Exchange to Music Indicates Auditory Distractibility in Acquired Brain Injury: An fNIRS Study with a Vector-Based Phase Analysis

Attention deficits due to auditory distractibility are pervasive among patients with acquired brain injury (ABI). It remains unclear, however, whether attention deficits following ABI specific to auditory modality are associated with altered haemodynamic responses. Here, we examined cerebral haemodynamic changes using functional near-infrared spectroscopy combined with a topological vector-based analysis method. A total of thirty-seven participants (22 healthy adults, 15 patients with ABI) performed a melodic contour identification task (CIT) that simulates auditory distractibility. Findings demonstrated that the melodic CIT was able to detect auditory distractibility in patients with ABI. The rate-corrected score showed that the ABI group performed significantly worse than the non-ABI group in both CIT1 (target contour identification against environmental sounds) and CIT2 (target contour identification against target-like distraction). Phase-associated response intensity during the CITs was greater in the ABI group than in the non-ABI group. Moreover, there existed a significant interaction effect in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during CIT1 and CIT2. These findings indicated that stronger hemodynamic responses involving oxygen exchange in the left DLPFC can serve as a biomarker for evaluating and monitoring auditory distractibility, which could potentially lead to the discovery of the underlying mechanism that causes auditory attention deficits in patients with ABI.

Cognitive Load Changes during Music Listening and its Implication in Earcon Design in Public Environments: An fNIRS Study

A key for earcon design in public environments is to incorporate an individual’s perceived level of cognitive load for better communication. This study aimed to examine the cognitive load changes required to perform a melodic contour identification task (CIT). While healthy college students (N = 16) were presented with five CITs, behavioral (reaction time and accuracy) and cerebral hemodynamic responses were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Our behavioral findings showed a gradual increase in cognitive load from CIT1 to CIT3 followed by an abrupt increase between CIT4 (i.e., listening to two concurrent melodic contours in an alternating manner and identifying the direction of the target contour, p < 0.001) and CIT5 (i.e., listening to two concurrent melodic contours in a divided manner and identifying the directions of both contours, p < 0.001). Cerebral hemodynamic responses showed a congruent trend with behavioral findings. Specific to the frontopolar area (Brodmann’s area 10), oxygenated hemoglobin increased significantly between CIT4 and CIT5 (p < 0.05) while the level of deoxygenated hemoglobin decreased. Altogether, the findings indicate that the cognitive threshold for young adults (CIT5) and appropriate tuning of the relationship between timbre and pitch contour can lower the perceived cognitive load and, thus, can be an effective design strategy for earcon in a public environment.