The rediscovered motor-related area 55b emerges as a core hub of music perception.
Commun Biol 2022;
5:1104. [PMID:
36257973 PMCID:
PMC9579133 DOI:
10.1038/s42003-022-04009-0]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Passive listening to music, without sound production or evident movement, is long known to activate motor control regions. Nevertheless, the exact neuroanatomical correlates of the auditory-motor association and its underlying neural mechanisms have not been fully determined. Here, based on a NeuroSynth meta-analysis and three original fMRI paradigms of music perception, we show that the long-ignored pre-motor region, area 55b, an anatomically unique and functionally intriguing region, is a core hub of music perception. Moreover, results of a brain-behavior correlation analysis implicate neural entrainment as the underlying mechanism of area 55b’s contribution to music perception. In view of the current results and prior literature, area 55b is proposed as a keystone of sensorimotor integration, a fundamental brain machinery underlying simple to hierarchically complex behaviors. Refining the neuroanatomical and physiological understanding of sensorimotor integration is expected to have a major impact on various fields, from brain disorders to artificial general intelligence.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired during passive listening to music suggest that pre-motor area 55b acts as a core hub of music processing in humans.
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