Mapping the musical mind
Interesting patterns of brain activity emerge during musical analysis exercises

Date:
December 23, 2021
Source:
University of Tokyo
Summary:
Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to study the brains
of secondary school students during a task focused on musical
observation.

They found that students trained to play music from a young age
exhibited certain kinds of brain activity more strongly than other
students. The researchers also observed a specific link between
musical processing and areas of the brain associated with language
processing for the first time.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers in Japan used magnetic resonance imaging to study the
brains of secondary school students during a task focused on musical observation. They found that students trained to play music from a young
age exhibited certain kinds of brain activity more strongly than other students. The researchers also observed a specific link between musical processing and areas of the brain associated with language processing
for the first time.


========================================================================== Professor Kuniyoshi L. Sakai from the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences at the University of Tokyo is a keen musician, as are many of
his colleagues.

Although Sakai has studied human language through the lens of neuroscience
for the last 25 years, it's no surprise that he also studies the effect
music has on the brain. Inspired by a mode of musical training known
as the Suzuki method, which is based on ideas of natural language
acquisition, Sakai and his team wanted to explore common neurological
aspects of music and language.

"In the field of neuroscience, it is well established that there are areas
of the brain that deal specifically with language, and even specialized
regions that correspond to different parts of language processing such as grammar or syntax," said Sakai. "We wondered if training under the Suzuki method might lead to activity in such areas, not when using language,
but when engaging with music. Our study reveals this is indeed the case."
For their investigation, the team enlisted 98 Japanese secondary school students classified into three groups: Group S (Suzuki) was trained from
a young age in the Suzuki method, Group E (Early) was musically trained
from a young age but not in the Suzuki method, and Group L (Late) was
either musically trained at a later age, but not in the Suzuki method,
or were not musically trained at all. All the students had their brains
scanned by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which produced
dynamic 3D models of their brains' activity. During this time, they were
given a musical exercise to identify errors in a piece of music played
to them. The musical pieces played had errors in one of four musical conditions: pitch, tempo, stress and articulation.

During the exercises, groups S and E showed more overall brain
activity than Group L, especially during the pitch and articulation
conditions. Furthermore, groups S and E showed activity in very specific regions depending on the kind of error being tested for. Interestingly,
Group S showed some unique patterns of activation mostly in areas of
the right brain, associated with emotion and melody, during the tempo condition, supporting the ideas behind the Suzuki method.

"One striking observation was that regardless of musical experience, the
highly specific grammar center in the left brain was activated during
the articulation condition. This connection between music and language
might explain why everyone can enjoy music even if they are not musical themselves," said Sakai.

"Other researchers, perhaps those studying neurological traits
of artistic experts, may be able to build on what we've found
here. As for ourselves, we wish to delve deeper into the connection
between music and language by designing novel experiments to tease
out more elusive details." special promotion Get a free digital
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we always get wrong about diet and exercise. Claim_yours_now_>>> landing.newscientist.com/what-is-new-scientist-sd/ ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Tokyo. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kuniyoshi L Sakai, Yoshiaki Oshiba, Reiya Horisawa, Takeaki Miyamae,
Ryugo Hayano. Music-Experience-Related and Musical-Error-Dependent
Activations in the Brain. Cerebral Cortex, 2021; DOI:
10.1093/cercor/ bhab478 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211223101414.htm

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