Cortical Activity During Perception of Musical Pitch

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 463-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Assal Habibi ◽  
Vinthia Wirantana ◽  
Arnold Starr
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Cortical Activity ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Functional Reorganization ◽  
The Right ◽  
P200 Amplitude ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Stimulation Of

This study investigates the effects of music training on brain activity to violations of melodic expectancies. We recorded behavioral and event-related brain potential (ERP) responses of musicians and nonmusicians to discrepancies of pitch between pairs of unfamiliar melodies based on Western classical rules. Musicians detected pitch deviations significantly better than nonmusicians. In musicians compared to nonmusicians, auditory cortical potentials to notes but not unrelated warning tones exhibited enhanced P200 amplitude generally, and in response to pitch deviations enhanced amplitude for N150 and P300 (P3a) but not N100 was observed. P3a latency was shorter in musicians compared to nonmusicians. Both the behavioral and cortical activity differences observed between musicians and nonmusicians in response to deviant notes were significant with stimulation of the right but not the left ear, suggesting that left-sided brain activity differentiated musicians from nonmusicians. The enhanced amplitude of N150 among musicians with right ear stimulation was positively correlated with earlier age onset of music training. Our data support the notion that long-term music training in musicians leads to functional reorganization of auditory brain systems, and that these effects are potentiated by early age onset of training.

Timing, Storage, and Comparison of Stimulus Duration Engage Discrete Anatomical Components of a Perceptual Timing Network

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 2185-2197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer T. Coull ◽  
Bruno Nazarian ◽  
Franck Vidal
Keyword(s):  
Stimulus Duration ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Discrimination ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Temporal Encoding ◽  
Perceptual Timing ◽  
The Right

The temporal discrimination paradigm requires subjects to compare the duration of a probe stimulus to that of a sample previously stored in working or long-term memory, thus providing an index of timing that is independent of a motor response. However, the estimation process itself comprises several component cognitive processes, including timing, storage, retrieval, and comparison of durations. Previous imaging studies have attempted to disentangle these components by simply measuring brain activity during early versus late scanning epochs. We aim to improve the temporal resolution and precision of this approach by using rapid event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to time-lock the hemodynamic response to presentation of the sample and probe stimuli themselves. Compared to a control (color-estimation) task, which was matched in terms of difficulty, sustained attention, and motor preparation requirements, we found selective activation of the left putamen for the storage (“encoding”) of stimulus duration into working memory (WM). Moreover, increased putamen activity was linked to enhanced timing performance, suggesting that the level of putamen activity may modulate the depth of temporal encoding. Retrieval and comparison of stimulus duration in WM selectively activated the right superior temporal gyrus. Finally, the supplementary motor area was equally active during both sample and probe stages of the task, suggesting a fundamental role in timing the duration of a stimulus that is currently unfolding in time.

scholarly journals Association Between Trait Empathy and Resting Brain Activity in Women With Primary Dysmenorrhea During the Pain and Pain-Free Phases

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanghuan Dun ◽  
Tongtong Fan ◽  
Qiming Wang ◽  
Ke Wang ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Primary Dysmenorrhea ◽  
Pain Experience ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Neural Network ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Empathy refers to the ability to understand someone else's emotions and fluctuates with the current state in healthy individuals. However, little is known about the neural network of empathy in clinical populations at different pain states. The current study aimed to examine the effects of long-term pain on empathy-related networks and whether empathy varied at different pain states by studying primary dysmenorrhea (PDM) patients. Multivariate partial least squares was employed in 46 PDM women and 46 healthy controls (HC) during periovulatory, luteal, and menstruation phases. We identified neural networks associated with different aspects of empathy in both groups. Part of the obtained empathy-related network in PDM exhibited a similar activity compared with HC, including the right anterior insula and other regions, whereas others have an opposite activity in PDM, including the inferior frontal gyrus and right inferior parietal lobule. These results indicated an abnormal regulation to empathy in PDM. Furthermore, there was no difference in empathy association patterns in PDM between the pain and pain-free states. This study suggested that long-term pain experience may lead to an abnormal function of the brain network for empathy processing that did not vary with the pain or pain-free state across the menstrual cycle.

scholarly journals Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Visual Cortex Impairs Form-specific Priming

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1013-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gorana Pobric ◽  
Stefan R. Schweinberger ◽  
Michal Lavidor
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Object Form ◽  
The Right ◽  
Specific Priming ◽  
Stimulation Of

Recent evidence suggests that priming of objects across different images (abstract priming) and priming of specific images of an object (form-specific priming) are mediated by dissociable neural processing subsystems that operate in parallel and are predominantly linked to left and right hemispheric processing, respectively [Marsolek, C. J. Dissociable neural subsystems underlie abstract and specific object recognition. Psychological Science, 10, 111–118, 1999]. Previous brain imaging studies have provided important information about the neuroanatomical regions that are involved in form-specific and abstract priming; however, these techniques did not fully establish the functional significance of priming-related changes in cortical brain activity. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in order to establish the functional role of the right occipital cortex in form-specific priming [Kroll, N. E. A., Yonelinas, A. P., Kishiyama, M. M., Baynes, K., Knight, R. T., & Gazzaniga, M. S. The neural substrates of visual implicit memory: Do the two hemispheres play different roles? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15, 833–842, 2003]. Compared to no TMS and sham TMS, rTMS of the right occipital cortex disrupted immediate form-specific priming in a semantic categorization task. Left occipital rTMS, on the other hand, had no converse effect on abstractive priming. Abstract priming may involve deeper semantic processing and may be unresponsive to magnetic stimulation of a single cortical locus. Our TMS results show that form-specific priming relies on a visual word-form system localized in the right occipital lobe, in line with the predictions from divided visual field behavioral studies [Marsolek, 1999].

Long-term electrical stimulation of rabbit skeletal muscle increases growth of paired arteries and veins

1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (2) ◽  
pp. H717-H724 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Adair ◽  
J. Hang ◽  
M. L. Wells ◽  
F. D. Magee ◽  
J. P. Montani
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Vascular System ◽  
Common Peroneal Nerve ◽  
Numerical Density ◽  
Muscle Stimulation ◽  
Longus Muscle ◽  
The Right ◽  
Arteries And Veins ◽  
Stimulation Of

We tested whether chronic stimulation of skeletal muscle can increase the growth of paired arteries and veins in rabbit extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL). The right EDL of female New Zealand White rabbits was stimulated via the common peroneal nerve at 10 Hz using 300 microseconds square waves at 3-4 V. Two-hour periods of stimulation was alternated with 4-h periods of rest, 7 days/wk for approximately 60 days. The left EDL served as control. The hindlimb vascular system was maximally dilated and perfuse-fixed with 3% glutaraldehyde and 2% paraformaldehyde at arterial and venous pressures of 80-100 and 15-20 mmHg, respectively. Muscles were postfixed in OsO4 and embedded in EPOX 812 resin. One millimeter-thick transverse sections were cut at uniform locations through the entire breadth of the muscle and analyzed using videomicroscopy along with computerized morphometric and stereological techniques. All paired arteries and veins on each full muscle section were analyzed. Chronic muscle stimulation caused the wall volume of paired arteries and veins to increase by an average of approximately twofold and the lumen volume to increase by an average of approximately threefold compared with the contralateral muscles. The wall-to-lumen area ratio of the arteries and veins was not affected. Muscle stimulation also caused the numerical density of arteries having a diameter > 100 microns to increase by approximately fourfold and the density of veins having a perimeter > 500 microns to increase by approximately 10-fold.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

scholarly journals Unexpected Terrain Induced Changes in Cortical Activity in Bipedal-Walking Rats

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Honghao Liu ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Minjian Zhang ◽  
Chuankai Dai ◽  
Pengcheng Xi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Cortical Activity ◽  
Bipedal Walking ◽  
Normal Walking ◽  
Double Support ◽  
Uneven Terrain ◽  
Band Power ◽  
The Right ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
The Impact

Humans and other animals can quickly respond to unexpected terrains during walking, but little is known about the cortical dynamics in this process. To study the impact of unexpected terrains on brain activity, we allowed rats with blocked vision to walk on a treadmill in a bipedal posture and then walk on an uneven area at a random position on the treadmill belt. Whole brain EEG signals and hind limb kinematics of bipedal-walking rats were recorded. After encountering unexpected terrain, the θ band power of the bilateral M1, the γ band power of the left S1, and the θ to γ band power of the RSP significantly decreased compared with normal walking. Furthermore, when the rats left uneven terrain, the β band power of the bilateral M1 and the α band power of the right M1 decreased, while the γ band power of the left M1 significantly increased compared with normal walking. Compared with the flat terrain, the θ to low β (3–20 Hz) band power of the bilateral S1 increased after the rats contacted the uneven terrain and then decreased in the single- or double- support phase. These results support the hypothesis that unexpected terrains induced changes in cortical activity.

The Mozart Effect May Only Be Demonstrable in Nonmusicians

2002 ◽  
Vol 95 (3) ◽  
pp. 1013-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Twomey ◽  
A. Esgate
Keyword(s):  
Facilitatory Effect ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Mozart Effect ◽  
Music Training ◽  
Word Generation ◽  
Verbal Tasks ◽  
New Finding ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
The Right

The “Mozart effect” is the tendency to score higher on spatiotemporal IQ subscales following exposure to complex music such as Mozart's Sonata K.448. This phenomenon was investigated in 20 musicians and 20 nonmusicians. The trion model predicts increased synchrony between musical and spatiotemporal centres in the right cerebral hemisphere. Since increased left-hemispheric involvement in music processing occurs as a result of music training, predictions deriving from the possibility of increased synchrony with left-hemispheric areas in musicians were tested. These included improved performance on language as well as spatiotemporal tasks. Spatiotemporal, synonym generation, and rhyming word generation tasks were employed as was the Mozart Sonata K.448. A Mozart effect was demonstrated on the spatiotemporal task, and the facilitatory effect of exposure to Mozart was greater for the non-musician group. This finding adds to the robustness of the Mozart effect since novel tasks were used. No Mozart effect was found for either group on the verbal tasks, although the musicians scored higher on rhyming word generation. This new finding adds to the number of nonmusical tasks apparently showing long-term benefits from music training. However, no systematic link was found between performance on any task and number of years spent in music training. The failure to induce a Mozart effect in the musician group on verbal tasks, as well as that group's limited facilitation on spatiotemporal tasks, may be associated with either a ceiling effect due to the long-term effects of music training or from methodological factors. Both possibilities are discussed.

Long-term stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in hemiparkinsonian rats: neuroprotection of dopaminergic neurons

2004 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Maesawa ◽  
Yoshiki Kaneoke ◽  
Yasukazu Kajita ◽  
Naotaka Usui ◽  
Nobuaki Misawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subthalamic Nucleus ◽  
Motor Function ◽  
Dopaminergic Neurons ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group A ◽  
Group B ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fine Print ◽  
Stimulation Of

Object. The goal of this study was to evaluate the neuroprotective effects conferred by long-term electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) against degeneration of dopaminergic neurons by assessing motor functional and immunohistological findings in hemiparkinsonian rats. Methods. In 13 of 25 rats, a concentric microelectrode was stereotactically implanted into the right STN under the guidance of extracellular microelectrode recording. After this had been done the animals were given an injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the right striatum. Seven of the rats received continuous stimulation (frequency 130 Hz, intensity 80–100 µA) for 2 weeks (Group A); the other six did not receive any stimulation during this period (Group B). Twelve rats did not receive electrode implantation and underwent 6-OHDA injection only; these animals served as a control group (Group C). After 2 weeks, motor function in the rats was evaluated by conducting an amphetamine-induced rotation test. Finally, tyrosine hydroxylase—immunoreactive neurons in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra (SNc) were counted to evaluate the extent of degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Ipsilateral rotation was significantly decreased in Group A, regardless of the effects of stimulation delivered during the test (p < 0.05). Rats in Group B demonstrated typical circling as did those in Group C, except that on stimulation Group B rats immediately stopped circling or changed direction. Tyrosine hydroxylase—immunoreactive neurons in the SNc were significantly preserved in the animals in Group A, whereas neurons in animals in Groups B and C were moderately depleted (p < 0.01). Conclusions. Acutely, STN stimulation improved rotation symmetry in rats with moderate SNc degeneration. When STN stimulation had been applied for the preceding 2 weeks, motor function was better and SNc neural degeneration was significantly milder. Subthalamic nucleus stimulation thus appears to protect dopaminergic neurons in this hemiparkinsonian model, in addition to improving motor function in these animals.

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