Psychology of Music Learning Miksza Music and Brain Research …from Peretz & Zatorre (2005)

Perception and Recognition Pitch relations –Evidence from brain impairment suggests pitch and time perception are separate neural subsystems but imaging results are less conclusive –Right auditory cortex – analyzing pitch information –Both hemispheres are important for contour and interval perception –ERP and fMRI research shows evidence of a neural system of tonal perception (scales) – usually in the form of recognition of deviations –Deviations from harmonic expectancies are also evident in ERP studies

Perception and Recognition Time relations –Neuropsychological evidence suggest that rhythm and beat perception are tied to different processing components – rather than being hierarchical in nature –Studies of beat tapping in various hands or by individuals with brain impairments cited Some with lesions can discriminate rhythmic patterns but not metric grouping –Evidence for importance of basal ganglia and cerebellum in timed motor-tasks

Memory Memory important since music unfolds over time Melodic recognition can be hampered in a variety of ways given brain injury Auditory cortex is active during imagery or mental rehearsal

Emotion Emotional response may be tied to a relatively distinct neural network Brain impaired individuals may be able to recognize emotional import in music even if not the music itself Cerebral blood flow patterns can be linked to ‘musical chills’ experiences

Performance Singing –Neural disassociation between speech and singing is possible Aphasia does not imply amusia and vice versa –Loss of melody has been tied to right-hemisphere lesions –Loss of rhythm has been tied to left hemisphere regions Sight-reading –Can lose language reading and retain musical and vice versa

Training Unique opportunity to study brain plasticity –Experience shapes cortical networks Motor cortex is enhanced structurally and functionally in musicians Cortical representation of left-hand for string players larger than non-musicians, no difference in right hand Musicians exhibit greater responses to piano tones than non-musicians AP may rely on an innate neural substrate –AP listeners show less ERP Mental practice may lead to similar although less- pronounced effects as physical practice in cortical excitement

Music Specificity Network of regions in both right and left hemispheres Right-side asymmetry for pitch-based processing Time-relations are somewhat more bi- lateral Most evidence points to distinct neural processing patterns for musical events