Spatiotemporal whole-brain activity and functional connectivity of melodies recognition
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Music is a non-verbal human language, built on logical, hierarchical structures, that offers excellent opportunities to explore how the brain processes complex spatiotemporal auditory sequences. Using the high temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography, we investigated the unfolding brain dynamics of 70 participants during the recognition of previously memorized musical sequences compared to novel sequences matched in terms of entropy and information content. Measures of both whole-brain activity and functional connectivity revealed a widespread brain network underlying the recognition of the memorized auditory sequences, which comprised primary auditory cortex, superior temporal gyrus, insula, frontal operculum, cingulate gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, and hippocampus. Furthermore, while the auditory cortex responded mainly to the first tones of the sequences, the activity of higher-order brain areas such as the cingulate gyrus, frontal operculum, hippocampus, and orbitofrontal cortex largely increased over time during the recognition of the memorized versus novel musical sequences. In conclusion, using a wide range of analytical techniques spanning from decoding to functional connectivity and building on previous works, our study provided new insights into the spatiotemporal whole-brain mechanisms for conscious recognition of auditory sequences.
Source: Cerebral Cortex
Institutions: Aarhus University, University of Oxford, Royal Academy of Music, University of Bari Aldo Moro, University of Minho, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, University of California, Los Angeles, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,189
Funders: Aarhus Universitet, “la Caixa” Foundation, Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research, University of Oxford, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Carlsbergfondet, Lundbeckfonden, H. Lundbeck A/S, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
OpenAlex ID: W4401412800