Effects of Selective Attention on Syntax Processing in Music and Language
Abstract The present study investigated the effects of auditory selective attention on the processing of syntactic information in music and speech using event-related potentials. Spoken sentences or musical chord sequences were either presented in isolation, or simultaneously. When presented simultaneously, participants had to focus their attention either on speech, or on music. Final words of sentences and final harmonies of chord sequences were syntactically either correct or incorrect. Irregular chords elicited an early right anterior negativity (ERAN), whose amplitude was decreased when music was simultaneously presented with speech, compared to when only music was presented. However, t…
Predictive error detection in pianists: A combined ERP and motion capture study
Performing a piece of music involves the interplay of several cognitive and motor processes and requires extensive training to achieve a high skill level. However, even professional musicians commit errors occasionally. Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies have investigated the neurophysiological correlates of pitch errors during piano performance, and reported pre-error negativity already occurring approximately 70–100 ms before the error had been committed and audible. It was assumed that this pre-error negativity reflects predictive control processes that compare predicted consequences with actual consequences of one's own actions. However, in previous investigations, correct a…
Music and Action
Music performance includes planning, initiation, execution, monitoring, and correction of actions. This makes music performance a valuable tool for the study of human action and its neural correlates. This chapter reports action-related processes evoked by the perception of actions, and processes of error correction during music performance. Neuroscientific studies showed that, during the perception of action, neural systems are active that are also active during the performance of such actions. This supports the "common coding principle" stating that the late stages of perception and the early stages of action share a common representational format (such as the same neural code). Studies o…