Can you hear a difference? Neuronal correlates of melodic deviance processing in children

• Published in: Brain research Vol. 1402; pp. 80 - 92
• Main Authors: Wehrum, Sina, Degé, Franziska, Ott, Ulrich, Walter, Bertram, Stippekohl, Bastian, Kagerer, Sabine, Schwarzer, Gudrun, Vaitl, Dieter, Stark, Rudolf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 21.07.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; adults; Anatomical correlates of behavior; anatomy & histology; Auditory Pathways; Auditory Pathways - anatomy & histology; Auditory Pathways - growth & development; Auditory Pathways - physiology; Auditory Perception; Auditory Perception - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; brain; Child; childhood; Children; cortex; Ear and associated structures. Auditory pathways and centers. Hearing. Vocal organ. Phonation. Sound production. Echolocation; Female; fMRI; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; growth & development; Humans; Learning; Learning - physiology; magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Music; Music - psychology; Nerve Net; Nerve Net - growth & development; Nerve Net - physiology; Neurology; physiology; psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Training; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Training; fMRI; Children; Music; Human; Central nervous system; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Encephalon; Hearing; Deviance; Melody; Child; Functional imaging
• ISSN: 0006-8993; 1872-6240; 1872-6240
• DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.05.057

Many studies investigating music processing in adult musicians and nonmusicians point towards pronounced behavioral and neurophysiological differences between the two groups. Recent studies indicate that these differences can already be found in early childhood. Further, electro-encephalography studies using musical discrimination tasks have demonstrated that differences in music processing become more pronounced when explicitly rather than implicitly trained musical abilities are required. Exploring the functional neuroanatomy underlying the processing of different expectation violations in children and its association with musical training, we investigated neural responses to different melodic deviances in musically trained and untrained children. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, children (aged 11–14 years) were examined while comparing pairs of short melodies that were either identical or differed with respect to four notes. The implemented deviances were either subtle (by inserting plausible in-key notes) or obvious (by inserting implausible out-of-key notes). Our results indicate a strong association between musical training and functional neuroanatomy of the brain. Similar to research on music processing in adults, the processing of obvious melodic deviances activated a network involving inferior frontal, premotor and anterior insula regions in musically trained and untrained children. By contrast, subtle deviances led to activation in the inferior frontal and premotor cortex, the anterior insula, the superior temporal gyrus, and the supramarginal gyrus in musically trained children only. Our work provides further insights into the functional neuroanatomy of melody processing and its association with musical training in children, providing the basis for further studies specifying distinct musical processes (e.g. contour and interval processing). ► Our results indicate a strong association between musical training and functional neuroanatomy of the brain. ► Musically trained and untrained children show similar neural responses to obvious melodic deviations. ► Musically trained and untrained children differ in neuronal responses to subtle melodic deviances.