4 The Hearing Brain and Music

Question 1

why study music and the brain

Answer 1

Musical behaviours are universal across human populations and, at the same time are highly diverse in their structures, roles and cultural interpretations. The study of music perception and cognition is one of the oldest topics in experimental psychology. The last 30 years of research have seen a special interest in understanding the neuroanatomy of music processing in humans (and some animals!) using different imaging techniques and lesion studies.

Question 2

what did plato say about music and the mind

Answer 2

Plato (428 BC): music can elevate or degrade the mind
“rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul “
was worried about the youth of athens and thought the music they listened to was corrupting their mind

Question 3

what did aristoxenus say about music and the mind

Answer 3

Aristoxenus (4 th century BC) - effects on listeners as opposed to examining their mathematical ratios

Aristoxenus - belonged to Pythagorean’s school of philosophy - interested in describing the world in terms of mathematic equation and rations
Described music in terms of mathematical ratios but wrong way to go about it what we should really study is the effect music had on listeners as opposed to just describing it as mathematical ratios - psychological effect music has on people not just describing what music sounds like or just objective description of what we hear

Question 4

what is music according the edgar varese

Answer 4

music is organised sound

Question 5

what is music according to leonard mayer

Answer 5

a form of emotional communication

Question 6

what is music according to wittgenstein

Answer 6

a new exemplar can be considered music if it bears a “family resemblance” to other examples that are generally agreed to be “music” - Wittgenstein

if we agree something is music then it probably is music

Question 7

what are the properties of music

Answer 7

universl
unique
context specific for birds
function

Question 8

music as universal

Answer 8

Universal– all cultures ever described have some form of music (if no instruments, still sing)

Question 9

music as unique

Answer 9

Unique - you don’t need to be human to sing - Birds

Question 10

music as context specific for birds

Answer 10

Context specific for birds: neural and hormonal changes vs. many contexts for humans

Question 11

music as a function

Answer 11

Function: only male birds sing: attract mate, defend territory

Question 12

what are the functions of music

Answer 12

• Human musical tendencies derived from a system for attracting mates (Darwin, 1871)
• music exists because it brings people together - social cohesion which lead to survival benefits (Huron, 2001)
• Precursor for language (Mithen, 2005)
• “Music is auditory cheesecake” – evolutionary byproduct of the adaptation for human language (Pinker, 1997)

Question 13

what does music is auditory cheesecake mean

Answer 13

• “Music is auditory cheesecake” – evolutionary byproduct of the adaptation for human language (Pinker, 1997)

Evolutionary adaptation is language sp what gives us an advantage in survival is language - humans develop language in order to survive - music is using language pathways and in a way is more pleasurable and nicer than language - auditory cheesecake
We need to eat to survive - crave foods that aren’t great for survival but we still like and eat - same as music we like music although it might not be necessary for survival

Question 14

why do people disagree with pinker

Answer 14

Other cognitive scientists and philosophers disagree with pinker bc they proposed that music is one of the most abstract art forms - classical music - abstract - everybody has their own impression of certain musical piece - so abstract it gave us an evolutionary advantage in one sense bc we can engage in imagination and this gives us evolutionary advantage in terms of hypothetical situations - so then plan and explore hypothetical situations - evolutionary advantage

Question 15

hearing is more than detection of sounds it involves…

Answer 15

Hearing is more than detection of sounds
It involves constructing a model of the world:
• What objects do the sounds correspond to?
• Where are they?
• What do they mean?

Question 16

what does the outer ear do

Answer 16

• Outer ear (pinnae and ear canal): amplifies certain frequencies, important for locating sounds

Question 17

what does the middle ear do

Answer 17

• Middle ear (includes malleus, incus, stapes): converts airborne vibrations to liquid-borne vibrations

Question 18

what does the inner ear do

Answer 18

• Inner ear (includes cochlea): converts liquid-borne vibrations to neural impulses

Question 19

what happens when music goes from ear to brain

Answer 19

Hear a sound first comes to outer ear - important for detecting where the sound comes from, then the ear canal is also part of the outer ear and is really important in amplifying certain frequencies of sound that we hear, when we hear these airborne frequencies get to the tympanic membrane and it starts to vibrate and then these air borne vibrations are then transferred to the liquid borne vibrations in the middle of the ear by the vibration of three little bones called the ossicles - the malleus, incus and stapes and they convert air borne vibrations to liquid borne vibrations found in the inner ear and part of that is called the cochlea and this cochlea is filled with liquid and these ossicles convert the vibration and then the liquid starts to vibrate as well, the liquid vibrations can be picked up by the auditory nerve and that auditory nerve carries the information to the CNS.

Question 20

what 3 bones cause air borne vibrations into liquid vibrations

Answer 20

air borne vibrations are then transferred to the liquid borne vibrations in the middle of the ear by the vibration of three little bones called the ossicles - the malleus, incus and stapes

Question 21

how many synapses from ear to cortex

Answer 21

4-5 synapses

Question 22

music in the brain

Answer 22

• Medial geniculate nucleus projects to primary auditory cortex (also called “core”)
• Core area is surrounded by secondary auditory cortex (including belt and parabelt regions)
• Information ascends and descends in the pathway
• The auditory nerve and auditory cortex have a tonotopic organization

Question 23

what is the organisation of the auditory nerve and cortex

Answer 23

tonotopic organisation

maps certain frequencies to certain parts of the cortex

Question 24

what are belt and parabelt regions

Answer 24

Primary auditory cortex is surrounded by secondary auditory cortex - sometimes called belt and parabelt regions - where belt is referring to primary auditory region and parabelt regions are referred to secondary auditory cortex

Question 25

where is primary auditory cortex located

Answer 25

heschl’s gyrus

Question 26

what is the secondary auditory cortex made up of

Answer 26

Secondary auditory cortex are made up of planum polare which is to the front and the planum temporale which his at the back of the heschl’s gyrus

Question 27

what is the right primary auditory cortex is more sensitive to

Answer 27

Right primary auditory cortex is more sensitive to spatial location of the sound Speech also activates this regions Acoustic properties of speech sound are important in coding speech Tonotopic organisation - with high and low frequencies located at different areas of the primary auditory cortex

Question 28

the right hemisphere or primary auditory cortex

Answer 28

* One region is sensitive to the spatial properties of sound (R>L) * Speech also activates these regions, but neurons are probably responding to the complex acoustic properties in the sound. * Perceptual attributes may be important

Question 29

what brain functions does music engage

Answer 29

* Emotion * Memory * Learning & plasticity * Attention * Motor control * Pattern perception * Imagery

Question 30

what brain area is important for auditory perception and analysis

Answer 30

Primary auditory cortex - important for auditory perception and analysis Association cortices such as the cortices in parietal areas and parabelt regions as well

Question 31

what brain area is important for expectancy generation | violation and satisfaction

Answer 31

Prefrontal cortex - engaged especially when we hear a sour note or when we know something was played differently bc prefrontal cortex is important for expectations and as we know in music we are always expecting something to come at a later point

Question 32

what brain area is important for sensory feedback from playing an instrument or dancing

Answer 32

Motor cortex - important when playing an instrument or just moving to the beat - tapping, dancing Cerebellum - important for fine motor movement especially for playing an instrument Sensory cortex’s - sensory feedback from playing an instrument or dancing - whether we are playing it properly - e.g. playing a sour note and whether we have to adjust our playing or whether we are dancing to rhythm

Question 33

what brain areas important for emotional reactions to music

Answer 33

Emotion - emotional reactions to music are located in the prefrontal cortex and in the cerebellum

Question 34

subcortical regions important in music perception

Answer 34

amygdala - emotional responses to music

Question 35

what does nucleus accumbens do in response to music

Answer 35

Nucleus accumbens. - part of the reward system as we know some types of music are highly pleasurable and rewarding therefore we know this area is very much involved when we experience pleasure from music

Question 36

what does hippocampus do in response to music

Answer 36

important for memorising music, reactivating lyrics or melodies that you already know

Question 37

what are the perceptual attributes of music

Answer 37

Music is characterized by perceptual attributes, or dimensions, each of which can be varied independently: pitch, rhythm, timbre, tempo, contour, loudness, and spatial location

Question 38

what is rhythm

Answer 38

the beat

Question 39

what is timbre

Answer 39

Timbre - attribute that depicts how different instruments sounds - so certain notes sound different on the piano or violin

Question 40

what is tempo

Answer 40

how fast a certain beat is

Question 41

what is contour

Answer 41

if the music is going up or down

Question 42

whats spatial location

Answer 42

where its coming from

Question 43

Musical and linguistic grammar allow for the generation of infinite number of songs or sentences through combinations and rearrangements of elements

Answer 43

true

Question 44

what is pitch

Answer 44

perception of sound frequency

Question 45

what is pitch in music scales

Answer 45

Perception of music Pitch (perception of sound frequency) - organized in every culture Pitch organization into musical scales: divides each octave (double-ing of pitch between C&C) into 12 distinct notes (7 white piano keys) Pentatonic scale

Question 46

what is difference between white and black piano key

Answer 46

semi-tone

Question 47

what is an octave

Answer 47

in western culture - pitch is organised into octaves | 12 notes

Question 48

pentatonic scale

Answer 48

organisation of pitch in every culture | pentatonic scale

Question 49

are we born musical

Answer 49

* Hearing working at 4-6 months * Infants, unlike monkeys, have natural preference for consonance (McDermott & Hauser, 2004). * Easily notice changes to contour (ups and downs) (Trehub et al, 1997) * Understand phrase structure in Mozart (Krumhansl & Jusczyk, 1990) * At 3 days old infants can distinguish different rhythms (Winkler et al. 2009)

Question 50

developmental evidence for being born musical

Answer 50

fMRI to measure brain activity in 1- to 3-day-old newborns while they heard excerpts of Western tonal music and altered versions of the same excerpts. Western music: right-hemispheric activations in primary and higher order auditory cortex Atonal music: activations emerged in the left inferior frontal cortex and limbic structures

Question 51

what does developmental evidence show

Answer 51

* infant brain shows a hemispheric specialization in processing music as early as the first postnatal hours * neural architecture underlying music processing in newborns is sensitive to changes in tonal key bilateral activation of primary auditory cortices left inferior frontal areas - expectation in music

Question 52

music development in newborns

Answer 52

• Newborn – perceive and remember pitch sequences, perceive a beat, sensitivity to contour, preference for consonance

Question 53

music development in 4-6yrs

Answer 53

4-6yrs – Respond to tonal more than atonal music

Question 54

music development in 7 yrs

Answer 54

7yrs – Sensitive to the rules of harmony

Question 55

music development in 10 yrs

Answer 55

10yrs – Understand finer aspects of key structure

Question 56

music development in 12 yrs

Answer 56

• 12yrs – Develop tastes and recognition of styles

Question 57

what is the mozart effect

Answer 57

The “Mozart effect” refers to claims that people perform better on tests of spatial abilities after listening to music composed by Mozart Paper cutting and folding test

Question 58

what does the mozart effect show

Answer 58

These findings provide evidence that the Mozart effect is an artifact of arousal and mood. Sad music makes people worse Mozart is most effective artifact of arousal and mood and isnt necessary related to Mozart but any music that is arousing

Question 59

what is congential amusia

Answer 59

a lifelong disorder characterized by a difficulty in perceiving, or making sense of, music Pitch perception (difference between tones) - amusics often require the change to be much greater, for example, close to the distance between the first two notes of Somewhere over the Rainbow (Peretz et al., 2002; Foxton et al., 2004) ‘tone- deafness’ – only 4% of population affected

Question 60

does congenital amusia score in the normal range or rhythm

Answer 60

People with amusia often score in the normal range for rhythm perception, although this aspect of the disorder seems variable

Question 61

amusia

Answer 61

* Amusics report having the condition for as long as you can remember * Unaware when music, including your own singing, is off-key * Difficulty discriminating or recognizing melodies without lyrics * Disliking of musical sounds and avoidance of public places and situations where music occurs. • Unlikely to “use” music in everyday life or experience reactions such as chills, relaxation or mood enhancement

Question 62

why is amusia interesting

Answer 62

• Sheds light on cognitive, neural and maybe even genetic basis of normal musical processing • How much are musical capacities associated with other skills (language, spatial awareness) • Possible origins of other developmental disorders such as dyslexia, prosopagnosia (faces) and dyscalculia (numbers)

Question 63

what problems do amusics have

Answer 63

pitch perception problems | whether a melody goes up or down

Question 64

what is a pitch perception problem

Answer 64

Many amusics have problems telling whether a melody goes up or down Affects the small changes which are often used in music (semitones) Problems with pitch direction are likely to impact on real world music listening

Question 65

monica

Answer 65

Case study - Monica the first documented case of congenital amusia. This disorder refers to a musical disability that cannot be explained by prior brain lesion, hearing loss, cognitive deficits, socio-affective disturbance, or lack of environmental stimulation. No structural brain changes

Question 66

what was monicas pitch discrimination like

Answer 66

monica can detect a pitch change of 11 semitones and only if the pitch chane is rising not when falling shows not a working memory problem

Question 67

pich perception problem

Answer 67

Pitch Perception problems (Foxton et al., 2004; Williamson et al., 2012) Many amusics have problems telling whether a melody goes up or down Affects the small changes which are often used in music (semitones) Problems with pitch direction are likely to impact on real world music listening

Question 68

Pitch memory problems (Williamson & Stewart, 2010)

Answer 68

tone span - how many tones can you remember digit span - similar test performed worse

Question 69

speech problems (Liu et al., 2010)

Answer 69

Speech problems (Liu et al., 2010) Most amusics have difficulties with speech but only with these SUBTLE changes!

Question 70

speech problems in relation to pitch

Answer 70

Pitch is important to speech 1) Tonal languages (65%) - mandarin, cantonese,thai 2) Intonation: question to statement, convey attitude 3) Speaker Identity

Question 71

findings of liu

Answer 71

``` Experiment (Liu et al., 2010) Statement-question discrimination with SUBTLE pitch changes: 1. Natural speech 2. Gliding tones 3. Nonsense speech ``` Most amusics have difficulties with all 3 tasks – but only with these SUBTLE changes!

Question 72

amusia behavioural studies findings

Answer 72

• Amusia is associated with wider pattern of difficulties than just tone pitch perception...but... • All difficulties have a direct pitch basis

Question 73

whats going on in the brain?

Answer 73

• Hyde et al. (2006) measured white matter density between the right frontal and temporal lobes. * Amusics white matter was thinner = a weaker connection. * Severity of Amusia = Thinner white matter.

Question 74

what does amusia show in white matter density and grey matter density

Answer 74

Reduction in white matter in right inferior frontal cortex (Hyde et al., 2006) and increases in gray matter in auditory cortex (Peretz et al., 2005)

Question 75

Congenital amusia : increase in cortical thickness

Answer 75

• increases in gray matter in auditory cortex (Peretz et al., 2005) Differences in cortical thickness may have compromised the normal development of right fronto-temporal pathway

Question 76

what do differences in right inferior frontal gyrus link to

Answer 76

Right superior temporal gyrus differences and right inferior frontal gyrus differences Right homolog of brocas and wernickes ares

Question 77

what is the Arcuate fasciculus (AF).Loui et al. (2009)

Answer 77

Tract that connects superior temporal gyrus with inferior frontal gyrus Amusics - this tract is impaired

Question 78

what happens to the Arcuate fasciculus in amusics

Answer 78

in 9/10 amusics the right superior arcuate fasciclus was unidentifiable Amusics thinner - structural changes - information carried through the AF cannot be transmitted the way normal participants transmit this auditory information

Question 79

Anatomical measures supported functionally

Answer 79

Measured ERPs in amusic participants while they monitored sequences for the presence of pitch change all overall impaired in semitones and quartertones much more impaired then controls

Question 80

can amusics track quartertones

Answer 80

Amusics can track quarter tone pitch differences, showing an early right- lateralized negative brain response N200 – but they are UNAWARE track but unaware - unable to report them

Question 81

what represents quarter tones

Answer 81

N200

Question 82

what represents semitones

Answer 82

p600

Question 83

• Lack of responsiveness to semitone changes that violate musical keys,

Answer 83

difference seen in P600 component

Question 84

amusics do not have

Answer 84

P600 component

Question 85

what is congenital amusia

Answer 85

• Congenital Amusia is a neurodevelopment disorder that impacts on music listening (and production) * Pitch perception problems, especially in rising direction * Pitch memory weaknesses * Carry over into subtle speech difficulties * No spatial difficulties • Most likely brain origin is a breakdown in pathways that carry pitch based information from auditory to higher brain processing centres

Question 86

are there spatial difficulties in congenital amusia

Answer 86

no

Question 87

music and language share many attributes

Answer 87

Music and language share many attributes: auditory based forms of communication, sensory input evolved over time and in coherent manner

Question 88

Does the brain use the same circuits to process the grammar of music and language?

Answer 88

SSIRH – shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis (Patel, 2003) Syntax in language and music share a common set of circuits instantiated in frontal brain regions Listening to music and speech Areas in frontal brain regions - important for syntax or the grammar in language and music Both in left inferior frontal regions Adjacent regions

Question 89

is there syntactic overlap between music and language

Answer 89

yes

Question 90

what happened in syntactic violation (syntax)

Answer 90

The woman paid the baker and take the bread home – P 600 | prominent P600 component

Question 91

what happened in semantic violation

Answer 91

Semantic violation - N400 | The woman paid the baker and took the zebra home – N 400

Question 92

in the music and language task was there syntactic overlap between music and language

Answer 92

The responses are highly similar in the vicinity of 600 ms after the onset of the incongruity music and language share same resources for processing grammar

Question 93

do music and language have a common orgigin

Answer 93

Music and language have a common origin – overlapping functions and shared circuitry Sensitivity to emotion in speech prosody derives from our capacity to process music

Question 94

forde et al 2012

Answer 94

12 amusics made judgments about emotional expressions of spoken phrases Music and language share mechanisms that trigger emotional responses Common evolutionary link between language and music Emotion is conveyed through the sounds and prosody of language as the statement is neutral Amusics were significantly impaired on all emotions Fear - not significant - so old - different cues

Question 95

music and emotion - eliciting psychological and physiological changes

Answer 95

Music can elicit both psychological (mood) and physiological changes - the chills effect (shivers, goose bumps, tingling)

Question 96

music induced emotion

Answer 96

Music induced emotion - euphoria or the chills effects has been shown to recruit reward- motivational circuit: basal forebrain, midbrain, orbitofrontal regions and deactivation in amygdala Chills to instrumental music Decrease in amygdala activation – anticipation of the chill, rather than the chill itself Deactivation in ventral prefrontal cortex and activations in amygdala Amygdala - negative emotion processing

Question 97

chills -

Answer 97

Deep & ancient areas: N Acc, Orbitofrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area Reward system in the brain - dopamine Instrumental music – abstract, at the same time accessing the same brain areas important for survival

Question 98

rhythm in culture

Answer 98

In every culture beat has important link to movement: dance, almost involuntarily

Question 99

what is uniquely human behaviour in relation to music

Answer 99

Uniquely human behavior: anticipatory (tapping to a metronome – people tap a bit ahead – anticipation) flexible (tap, clap, double the rate) robust (syncopation) cross modal (something you hear – movement) auditory (patterns – complex tap – visual pattern – flashes of light – temporal info through eyes – hopeless)- temporal information through ears making us tap not from sight Beat - Parkinson’s disease – having a regular beat helps them walk

Question 100

what are the brain structures keeping the beat

Answer 100

Brain structures keeping the beat are motor structures

Question 101

what does the basal ganglia control

Answer 101

basal ganglia (part of the motor circuit) - time intervals, control sequences of move.

Question 102

how can only humans keep the beat

Answer 102

Vocal learning: learning to produce and imitate complex sound patterns based on what you hear - arbitrary sound sequence mapping Grahn & Brett, 2007

Question 103

how can we move to the beat

Answer 103

A key structure involving timing beats (basal ganglia) is involved in motor control In vocal learning the same structure creates a strong connection auditory input and motor output Chimps can’t move to the beat Basal ganglia – evolutionary modification for beat perception

Question 104

how does musical experience affect practice and performance and skill transfer

Answer 104

Auditory perception consequence of dynamic processes involving cortical and subcortical regions, reflecting both bottom-up and top-down processing Motor cortex - hands Feedback loop - sound to auditory cortex Somatosensory cortex - adjust playing Motor cortex - playing

Question 105

what are the effects of musical training | baumann et al 2005

Answer 105

Overlap: auditory and motor systems interact closely during both perception and production when listening and playing - active in auditory Cortex and supplementary motor area

Question 106

how does musical training effect the brain

Answer 106

Skilled musicians are unique in that they • Start at a young age • Spend lots of time on practice

Question 107

Does musical training lead to a difference in brain functional anatomy? Ohinishi et al. 2001 compared musicians to non-musicians in a passive (music) listening task

Answer 107

to see differences subtract one image from another • Differences are in Planum Temporale and Dorsolateral Prefronatal Cortex – especially on the left side Differences are in or near speech production and comprehension regions

Question 108

musicians differ from non-musicians broadly

Answer 108

in broad terms musical training seems to push music processes onto language structures left lateralisation for musicians left posterior temporal gyrus - in or near wernickes left lateral frontal cortex - in or near brocas

Question 109

is music left lateralised in musicians

Answer 109

More active in musicians Left lateralised Even though music vocalisation is more of a right lateralised function Left lateralisation Musicians treat music as language Recognise chords and melodic structures they can name - recruit language comprehension and production

Question 110

what do musical operations involve in the brain

Answer 110

* Musical operations involve disparate regions of the brain: all lobes and both cortical and subcortical structure * In particular roles of cerebellum (movement) and amygdala (emotion) are becoming appreciated

Question 111

what are the components of music

Answer 111

• The components of music (pitch, rhythm, timbre, contour) subserved by distinct neural processing units

Question 112

does music share some circuitry with spoken language

Answer 112

• Music shares some circuitry with spoken language, yet also involves distinct neural circuits