Differences in dynamic functional connectivity between naturalistic music listening and rest in preadolescents

Ruijiao Dai^1,2Petri Toiviainen²Fulvia Francesca Campo³Pauline Cantou⁴Maria Celeste Fasano⁵Boris Kleber⁶Peter Vuust⁶Elvira Brattico^6,7*

• ¹Department of History and Ethnology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
• ²Department of Music, Jyvaskylan yliopisto Avoimen tiedon keskus, Jyväskylä, Finland
• ³Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, Universita degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
• ⁴Department of Neuroscience, Campus Biotech, Universite de Geneve, Geneva, Switzerland
• ⁵Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Aarhus Universitet, Aarhus, Denmark
• ⁶Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus Universitet, Aarhus, Denmark
• ⁷Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, Universita degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

Introduction: Engagement with music is a significant aspect of adolescents' lives and this interest blossoms during preadolescence. Compared to the extensive body of research focused on adult music brain function, relatively few studies have examined the neural connections involved in music listening among adolescents and preadolescents. This study aims to investigate the dynamic patterns of brain functional connectivity and the transition processes during naturalistic music listening in preadolescents, measuring the transition of brain states from one time point to the next. Methods: We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity of 24 healthy preadolescents aged 8 to 12 years during both music listening and rest conditions. Subsequently, we applied a dynamic functional connectivity analysis, Leading Eigenvector Dynamics Analysis (LEiDA), to extract distinct brain states (phase locking patterns) and the corresponding transition processes. Results: Findings show that occipital brain regions are actively engaged during music listening, possibly linked to attention regulation, visual imagery, and emotional processing. Additionally, we observed a more frequent transition from the default mode network (DMN) state to an orbitofrontal limbic state during music listening, evidencing cognitive shifts that facilitate emotional and reward processing. In contrast, during rest, we obtained a switch to the sensorimotor auditory network, suggesting intrinsic fluctuations in multiple networks. Discussion: These findings deepen our understanding of subcortical and frontal brain connectivity in preadolescents during music listening, with implications for integrating music into educational practices to support learning and cognitive development.