Cognitive vs. affective listening modes and judgments of music - An ERP study
The neural correlates of processing deviations from Western music rules are relatively well known. Less is known of the neural dynamics of top-down listening modes and affective liking judgments in relation with judgments of tonal correctness. In this study, subjects determined if tonal chord sequences sounded correct or incorrect, or if they liked them or not, while their electroencephalogram (EEG) was measured. The last chord of the sequences could be congruous with the previous context, ambiguous (unusual but still enjoyable) or harmonically inappropriate. The cognitive vs. affective listening modes were differentiated in the event-related potential (ERP) responses already before the end…
Physical activity is positively related to local functional connectivity in adolescents’ brains
AbstractAdolescents have experienced decreased aerobic fitness levels and insufficient physical activity levels over the past decades. While both physical activity and aerobic fitness are related to physical and mental health, little is known concerning how they manifest in the brain during this stage of development, characterized by significant physical and psychosocial changes. Previous investigations have demonstrated associations of physical activity and aerobic fitness with the brain’s functional connectivity in both children and adults. However, it is difficult to generalize these results to adolescents because the development of functional connectivity has unique features during adol…
Large-scale brain networks emerge from dynamic processing of musical timbre, key and rhythm
We investigated the neural underpinnings of timbral, tonal, and rhythmic features of a naturalistic musical stimulus. Participants were scanned with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while listening to a stimulus with a rich musical structure, a modern tango. We correlated temporal evolutions of timbral, tonal, and rhythmic features of the stimulus, extracted using acoustic feature extraction procedures, with the fMRI time series. Results corroborate those obtained with controlled stimuli in previous studies and highlight additional areas recruited during musical feature processing. While timbral feature processing was associated with activations in cognitive areas of the cerebel…
Physical activity and aerobic fitness in relation to local and interhemispheric functional connectivity in adolescents' brains
Abstract Introduction Adolescents have experienced decreased aerobic fitness levels and insufficient physical activity levels over the past decades. While both physical activity and aerobic fitness are related to physical and mental health, little is known concerning how they manifest in the brain during this stage of development, characterized by significant physical and psychosocial changes. The aim of the study is to examine the associations between both physical activity and aerobic fitness with brains’ functional connectivity. Methods Here, we examined how physical activity and aerobic fitness are associated with local and interhemispheric functional connectivity of the adolescent brai…
Modulated neural processing of Western harmony in folk musicians
A chord deviating from the conventions of Western tonal music elicits an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) in inferofrontal brain regions. Here, we tested whether the ERAN is modulated by expertise in more than one music culture, as typical of folk musicians. Finnish folk musicians and nonmusicians participated in electroencephalography recordings. The cadences consisted of seven chords. In incongruous cadences, the third, fifth, or seventh chord was a Neapolitan. The ERAN to the Neapolitans was enhanced in folk musicians compared to nonmusicians. Folk musicians showed an enhanced P3a for the ending Neapolitan. The Neapolitan at the fifth position was perceived differently and elicited…
New fast mismatch negativity paradigm for determining the neural prerequisites for musical ability.
Studies have consistently shown that the mismatch negativity (MMN) for different auditory features correlates with musical skills, and that this effect is more pronounced for stimuli integrated in complex musical contexts. Hence, the MMN can potentially be used for determining the development of auditory skills and musical expertise. MMN paradigms, however, are typically very long in duration, and far from sounding musical. Therefore, we developed a novel multi-feature MMN paradigm with 6 different deviant types integrated in a complex musical context of no more than 20 min in duration. We found significant MMNs for all 6 deviant types. Hence, this short objective measure can putatively be …