Brain integrative function driven by musical training during real-world music listening

Abstract

The present research investigated differences in the brain dynamics of continuous, real-world music listening between listeners with and without professional musical training, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A replication study was aimed at validating the reliability of the naturalistic approach to studying brain responses to music, wherein the brain signal and the acoustic information extracted from the musical stimulus were correlated. After a successful replication, a series of three studies dealt with differences in integrative brain function during music listening between musicians and nonmusicians. Findings (a) emphasized the crucial role of the distinctive postural and kinematic symmetry in instrument playing on the symmetry of brain responses to music listening, evidencing a crossmodal transfer of symmetry from sensorimotor to perceptual processing systems; (b) provided novel evidence for increased cerebello-hippocampal functional coupling in musicians as a function of musical predictability compared to nonmusicians, likely mediated by action simulation mechanisms; (c) highlighted differences in pulse clarity processing between groups and uncovered an associated action-perception network overlapping with areas previously observed to tightly interact in rhythm processing. In conclusion, the present research findings, obtained using a naturalistic auditory stimulation paradigm, will advance the understanding of brain integrative function during real-world music listening, in listeners with and without musical expertise. Particularly, this thesis has implications for a better understanding of training-induced crossmodal reorganization. The new evidence brought by the present findings will hopefully guide the generation and development of future testable hypotheses.