Melody and gamma oscillations: processing of contour and interval in musicians and non-musicians
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1
The University of Auckland, School of Psychology, New Zealand
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2
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
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3
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
Background:
Current thinking is that melody is processed as interval and contour information separately. Musical training also impacts musical processing, and musicians have an increased and differing response to contours and intervals. Musicians also show greater synchrony of gamma oscillations with music. This study investigated gamma processing of interval and contour in musicians and non-musicians.
Methods:
Sixteen adults (10 musicians and 6 non-musicians) were presented with two melodies and versions of those melodies with interval or contour violations at various note points, with EEG activity measured at 1000Hz. Continuous wavelet transforms (CWTs) of the data were computed over 30-60Hz and averaged. Regions of interest were selected from the average CWTs using a Monte Carlo searching algorithm. A Monte Carlo approximation of the permutation test was used to assess the significance of gamma power within selected regions of interest. The cluster mass test was used in the permutation test.
Results:
Several significant regions of interest were found. For interval in musicians electrode 101 (right posterior temporal) had activity at 341-376ms after the violation, E64 (left posterior temporal) at 798ms, E87 (right parietal) at 699ms and E62 (central parietal) at 765ms. For interval in non-musicians there was activity at 660ms in E103 (right temporoparietal) and at 629-676ms in E105 (right central). For contour in musicians E50 (left posterior temporal) had activity at 273-315ms and E108 (right inferior temporal) at 680ms. For contour in non-musicians there was activity at 357ms in E81 (central) and at 675-709ms in E32 (central).
Discussion:
Similar to previous research, musicians had greater activity, interval generally showed more pronounced activity, and a pattern of early and late activity was observed. Musicians in particular had significant activity in temporal electrodes, with an interesting timing difference between interval (right then left) and contour (left then right). Activity in parietal electrodes was also congruent with previous research, suggesting parietal processing may be important for forming auditory gestalts. These results support a role of gamma oscillations in the processing of melody.
Keywords:
music cognition,
melody processing,
gamma oscillations,
musicians,
EEG,
wavelets,
wavelet analysis,
Monte Carlo method
Conference:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Other
Citation:
King
R,
Kirk
IJ and
King
C
(2013). Melody and gamma oscillations: processing of contour and interval in musicians and non-musicians.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00053
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Received:
15 Oct 2013;
Published Online:
25 Nov 2013.
*
Correspondence:
Mr. Rohan King, The University of Auckland, School of Psychology, Auckland, New Zealand, r.king@auckland.ac.nz