Brain processing of consonance/dissonance in musicians and controls: a hemispheric asymmetry revisited. (2nd August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Proverbio, Alice Mado; Orlandi, Andrea; Pisanu, Francesca
• Editors: Foxe, John
• Is Part Of: European journal of neuroscience. Volume 44:Number 6(2016:Sep.)
• Page Start: 2340
• Page End: 2356
• Publication Date: 2016-08-02
• Subjects: auditory -- emotions -- event‐related potentials -- music -- perception; Nervous system -- Periodicals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13330
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0953-816X

Abstract

Abstract: It was investigated to what extent musical expertise influences the auditory processing of harmonicity by recording event‐related potentials. Thirty‐four participants (18 musicians and 16 controls) were asked to listen to hundreds of chords, differing in their degree of consonance, their complexity (from two to six composing sounds) and their range (distance of two adjacent pitches, from quartertones to more than 18 semitone steps). The task consisted of detecting rare targets. An early auditory N1 was observed that was modulated by chord dissonance in both groups. The response was generated in the right medial temporal gyrus (MTG) for consonant chords but in the left MTG for dissonant chords according to swLORETA reconstruction performed. An anterior negativity (N2) was enhanced only in musicians in response to chords featuring quartertones, thus suggesting a greater pitch sensitivity for simultaneous pure tones in the skilled brain. The P300 was affected by the frequency range only in musicians, who also showed a greater sensitivity to sound complexity. A strong left hemispheric specialization for processing quartertones in the left temporal cortex of musicians was observed at N2 level (250–350 ms), which was observed on the right side in controls. Additionally, in controls, widespread activity of the right limbic area was associated with listening to close frequencies causing disturbing beats, possibly suggesting a negative aesthetic appreciation for these stimuli. Overall, the data show a finer and more tuned neural representation of pitch intervals in musicians, linked to a marked specialization of their left temporal cortex (BA21/38). Abstract : Hemispheric differences in the processing of consonant vs. dissonant chords were investigated in highly experienced musicians and inexperienced participants via Electroencephalogram (EEG)/ERP recordings. Dissonant chords consisted either of a widely spaced tone range or included intervals down to a quarter tone. A finer and more tuned neural representation of tones was found in musicians. A hemispheric specialization (much stronger in musicians) for processing dissonant chords in the left and consonant chords in the right temporal cortex (BA21/38)was found at N1 and N2 level.