4 The Hearing Brain and Music Flashcards
why study music and the brain
Musical behaviours are universal across human populations and, at the same time are highly diverse in their structures, roles and cultural interpretations. The study of music perception and cognition is one of the oldest topics in experimental psychology. The last 30 years of research have seen a special interest in understanding the neuroanatomy of music processing in humans (and some animals!) using different imaging techniques and lesion studies.
what did plato say about music and the mind
Plato (428 BC): music can elevate or degrade the mind
“rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul “
was worried about the youth of athens and thought the music they listened to was corrupting their mind
what did aristoxenus say about music and the mind
Aristoxenus (4 th century BC) - effects on listeners as opposed to examining their mathematical ratios
Aristoxenus - belonged to Pythagorean’s school of philosophy - interested in describing the world in terms of mathematic equation and rations
Described music in terms of mathematical ratios but wrong way to go about it what we should really study is the effect music had on listeners as opposed to just describing it as mathematical ratios - psychological effect music has on people not just describing what music sounds like or just objective description of what we hear
what is music according the edgar varese
music is organised sound
what is music according to leonard mayer
a form of emotional communication
what is music according to wittgenstein
a new exemplar can be considered music if it bears a “family resemblance” to other examples that are generally agreed to be “music” - Wittgenstein
if we agree something is music then it probably is music
what are the properties of music
universl
unique
context specific for birds
function
music as universal
Universal– all cultures ever described have some form of music (if no instruments, still sing)
music as unique
Unique - you don’t need to be human to sing - Birds
music as context specific for birds
Context specific for birds: neural and hormonal changes vs. many contexts for humans
music as a function
Function: only male birds sing: attract mate, defend territory
what are the functions of music
- Human musical tendencies derived from a system for attracting mates (Darwin, 1871)
- music exists because it brings people together - social cohesion which lead to survival benefits (Huron, 2001)
- Precursor for language (Mithen, 2005)
- “Music is auditory cheesecake” – evolutionary byproduct of the adaptation for human language (Pinker, 1997)
what does music is auditory cheesecake mean
• “Music is auditory cheesecake” – evolutionary byproduct of the adaptation for human language (Pinker, 1997)
Evolutionary adaptation is language sp what gives us an advantage in survival is language - humans develop language in order to survive - music is using language pathways and in a way is more pleasurable and nicer than language - auditory cheesecake
We need to eat to survive - crave foods that aren’t great for survival but we still like and eat - same as music we like music although it might not be necessary for survival
why do people disagree with pinker
Other cognitive scientists and philosophers disagree with pinker bc they proposed that music is one of the most abstract art forms - classical music - abstract - everybody has their own impression of certain musical piece - so abstract it gave us an evolutionary advantage in one sense bc we can engage in imagination and this gives us evolutionary advantage in terms of hypothetical situations - so then plan and explore hypothetical situations - evolutionary advantage
hearing is more than detection of sounds it involves…
Hearing is more than detection of sounds
It involves constructing a model of the world:
• What objects do the sounds correspond to?
• Where are they?
• What do they mean?
what does the outer ear do
• Outer ear (pinnae and ear canal): amplifies certain frequencies, important for locating sounds
what does the middle ear do
• Middle ear (includes malleus, incus, stapes): converts airborne vibrations to liquid-borne vibrations
what does the inner ear do
• Inner ear (includes cochlea): converts liquid-borne vibrations to neural impulses
what happens when music goes from ear to brain
Hear a sound first comes to outer ear - important for detecting where the sound comes from, then the ear canal is also part of the outer ear and is really important in amplifying certain frequencies of sound that we hear, when we hear these airborne frequencies get to the tympanic membrane and it starts to vibrate and then these air borne vibrations are then transferred to the liquid borne vibrations in the middle of the ear by the vibration of three little bones called the ossicles - the malleus, incus and stapes and they convert air borne vibrations to liquid borne vibrations found in the inner ear and part of that is called the cochlea and this cochlea is filled with liquid and these ossicles convert the vibration and then the liquid starts to vibrate as well, the liquid vibrations can be picked up by the auditory nerve and that auditory nerve carries the information to the CNS.
what 3 bones cause air borne vibrations into liquid vibrations
air borne vibrations are then transferred to the liquid borne vibrations in the middle of the ear by the vibration of three little bones called the ossicles - the malleus, incus and stapes
how many synapses from ear to cortex
4-5 synapses
music in the brain
- Medial geniculate nucleus projects to primary auditory cortex (also called “core”)
- Core area is surrounded by secondary auditory cortex (including belt and parabelt regions)
- Information ascends and descends in the pathway
- The auditory nerve and auditory cortex have a tonotopic organization
what is the organisation of the auditory nerve and cortex
tonotopic organisation
maps certain frequencies to certain parts of the cortex
what are belt and parabelt regions
Primary auditory cortex is surrounded by secondary auditory cortex - sometimes called belt and parabelt regions - where belt is referring to primary auditory region and parabelt regions are referred to secondary auditory cortex
where is primary auditory cortex located
heschl’s gyrus
what is the secondary auditory cortex made up of
Secondary auditory cortex are made up of planum polare which is to the front and the planum temporale which his at the back of the heschl’s gyrus
what is the right primary auditory cortex is more sensitive to
Right primary auditory cortex is more sensitive to spatial location of the sound
Speech also activates this regions
Acoustic properties of speech sound are important in coding speech
Tonotopic organisation - with high and low frequencies located at different areas of the primary auditory cortex
the right hemisphere or primary auditory cortex
- One region is sensitive to the spatial properties of sound (R>L)
- Speech also activates these regions, but neurons are probably responding to the complex acoustic properties in the sound.
- Perceptual attributes may be important
what brain functions does music engage
- Emotion
- Memory
- Learning & plasticity
- Attention
- Motor control
- Pattern perception
- Imagery
what brain area is important for auditory perception and analysis
Primary auditory cortex - important for auditory perception and analysis
Association cortices such as the cortices in parietal areas and parabelt regions as well
what brain area is important for expectancy generation
violation and satisfaction
Prefrontal cortex - engaged especially when we hear a sour note or when we know something was played differently bc prefrontal cortex is important for expectations and as we know in music we are always expecting something to come at a later point
what brain area is important for sensory feedback from playing an instrument or dancing
Motor cortex - important when playing an instrument or just moving to the beat - tapping, dancing
Cerebellum - important for fine motor movement especially for playing an instrument
Sensory cortex’s - sensory feedback from playing an instrument or dancing - whether we are playing it properly - e.g. playing a sour note and whether we have to adjust our playing or whether we are dancing to rhythm
what brain areas important for emotional reactions to music
Emotion - emotional reactions to music are located in the prefrontal cortex and in the cerebellum
subcortical regions important in music perception
amygdala - emotional responses to music
what does nucleus accumbens do in response to music
Nucleus accumbens. - part of the reward system as we know some types of music are highly pleasurable and rewarding therefore we know this area is very much involved when we experience pleasure from music
what does hippocampus do in response to music
important for memorising music, reactivating lyrics or melodies that you already know
what are the perceptual attributes of music
Music is characterized by perceptual attributes, or dimensions, each of which can be varied independently: pitch, rhythm, timbre, tempo, contour, loudness, and spatial location
what is rhythm
the beat
what is timbre
Timbre - attribute that depicts how different instruments sounds - so certain notes sound different on the piano or violin
what is tempo
how fast a certain beat is
what is contour
if the music is going up or down
whats spatial location
where its coming from
Musical and linguistic grammar allow for the generation of infinite number of songs or sentences through combinations and rearrangements of elements
true
what is pitch
perception of sound frequency
