Music Perception and the Brain Flashcards
(37 cards)
What neuroplastic change is observed in string instrument players compared to non-musicians?
Larger somatosensory cortex (S1) activation area in the left hand digits due to extensive manual dexterity practice, showing brain changes from repeated practice (neuroplasticity).
Who proposed the phrase “neurons that fire together wire together”?
Donald Hebb.
What is the cocktail party phenomenon and how does it relate to selective attention?
The ability to focus on one auditory stimulus (like a single conversation) amid many others, demonstrating selective attention filters distractions to prioritize what we perceive and remember.
What role does selective attention play in learning and perception?
It allows focus on limited stimuli, filtering out distractions, which impacts what we perceive, remember, and predict.
What brain areas are involved in processing music sounds?
Primary auditory cortex and secondary association cortex in the temporal lobe.
What is predictive coding (PC) in music perception?
A framework where higher brain areas send predictions down cortical hierarchies to explain away sensory prediction errors, while errors ascend to refine future predictions — a feedback loop between brain layers.
How does musical groove arise from prediction?
Groove arises from rhythmic pulse perception and syncopations (unexpected accents), creating a drive to move and synchronize bodily movements to the music.
What is the hierarchical nature of musical pulse perception?
The pulse is structured with different accents at multiple levels, e.g., a march with strong and weak beats forming a pattern.
How does selective attention function during internal generation of music (e.g., singing or playing)?
The brain suppresses overt action for unplayed or unsung events and attends only to the auditory consequences of the intended internal act.
What does attentional gain refer to in auditory processing?
The brain increases the sensitivity (gain) to prediction errors via neuromodulatory control over neuron excitability, enhancing selective attention to relevant stimuli.
What does the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) measure in EEG studies?
An early event-related potential (100-250 ms post-stimulus) elicited automatically by deviant auditory events (oddballs) among repeated standard stimuli, reflecting automatic detection of violations.
Where in the brain is the MMN primarily generated?
Near the primary and secondary auditory cortices, with additional sources in the frontal lobe.
What follows the MMN and what does it indicate?
The P3a wave (~250-300 ms) follows, indicating conscious detection of deviant stimuli and engagement of attention/prediction systems.
List examples of sound features that elicit MMN.
Sound frequency, loudness (intensity), duration, location, and speech sound differences.
Does MMN occur only in the auditory domain?
No, MMN-like processes also occur in other sensory modalities such as visual, somatosensory, and olfactory systems.
How is body motion related to musical rhythm in current research?
Body-motion rhythms correlate with musical rhythms, and music intensity correlates with motion intensity; researchers use motion capture and computer graphics to model this.
What is the purpose of using motion capture in music and dance research?
To synthesize realistic human motion and study how musical features like rhythm and intensity influence dance movements.
What psychological processes enable us to dance, sing, and improvise to music?
The integration of selective attention, prediction, and sensory-motor synchronization.
Summarize the key points about selective attention and prediction in music perception.
1) Selective attention filters stimuli individually; 2) Prediction involves anticipating expected stimuli; 3) Attention creates expectations that shape perception.
Predictive Coding - Ascending and descending pathways
Descending predictions: Higher-level brain areas send predictions down to lower-level sensory areas, anticipating incoming sensory input.
Ascending prediction errors: When sensory input does not match the prediction, a “prediction error” signal is sent up from lower to higher brain areas.
This feedback loop helps the brain update and refine its predictions to better match actual sensory input, continuously minimizing prediction errors.
What differences in brain activation are seen in string instrument players compared to non-musicians when tested with somatosensory stimuli?
String players show larger activation areas in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) for the fingers of the left hand.
This reflects neuroplasticity from extensive practice and manual dexterity.
Supports the idea that “neurons that fire together, wire together” (Hebb’s rule).
What role do neuromodulatory mechanisms play in attention during auditory perception?
Neuromodulators (e.g., acetylcholine, dopamine) adjust the excitability of neuron populations in auditory pathways.
This increases attentional gain, amplifying neural responses to prediction errors for attended stimuli.
Psychologically, this reflects attentional control over selecting and ignoring sensory features at different auditory hierarchy levels.
What are the key ERP components involved in detecting auditory deviants, and when do they occur?
Mismatch Negativity (MMN): Occurs ~100-250 ms after a deviant sound; reflects automatic detection of unexpected stimuli without conscious attention.
P3a (or P3): Occurs ~250-300 ms after the deviant; linked to conscious detection and automatic attention shift to the deviant stimulus; generated mainly in frontal regions.
How are body movements related to musical rhythm?
Body-motion rhythms naturally align with musical rhythms—our movements often sync with the beat, reflecting the timing and pattern of the music.
