The language of music: Common neural codes for structured sequences in music and natural language.
Author: Chiang JN1, Rosenberg MH1, Bufford CA1, Stephens D2, Lysy A2, Monti MM3
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
2Department of Music, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
3Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: monti@ucla.edu.
Conference/Journal: Brain Lang.
Date published: 2018 Aug 4
Other:
Volume ID: 185 , Pages: 30-37 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2018.07.003. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 162
The ability to process structured sequences is a central feature of natural language but also characterizes many other domains of human cognition. In this fMRI study, we measured brain metabolic response in musicians as they generated structured and non-structured sequences in language and music. We employed a univariate and multivariate cross-classification approach to provide evidence that a common neural code underlies the production of structured sequences across the two domains. Crucially, the common substrate includes Broca's area, a region well known for processing structured sequences in language. These findings have several implications. First, they directly support the hypothesis that language and music share syntactic integration mechanisms. Second, they show that Broca's area is capable of operating supramodally across these two domains. Finally, these results dismiss the recent hypothesis that domain general processes of neighboring neural substrates explain the previously observed "overlap" between neuroimaging activations across the two domains.
KEYWORDS: Language; Multivariate Pattern Analysis (MVPA); Music; Neuroimaging; Structured sequences
PMID: 30086421 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2018.07.003
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