Biology subjects

Drozdziel, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Drozdziel, D..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Understanding functional brain reorganisation for naturalistic piano playing in novice pianists

Learning to play the piano is a unique complex task, integrating multiple sensory modalities and higher-order cognitive functions. Longitudinal neuroimaging studies on adult novice musicians show training-related functional changes in music perception tasks. The reorganisation of brain activity while actually playing an instrument was studied only on a very short time-frame of a single fMRI session, and longer interventions have not yet been performed. Thus, our aim was to investigate the dynamic complexity of functional brain reorganisation while playing the piano within the first half year of musical training. We scanned twenty-four novice keyboard learners (female, 18-23yo) using fMRI while they played increasingly complex musical pieces after 1, 6, 13 and 26 weeks of training. Playing music evoked responses bilaterally in the auditory, inferior frontal and supplementary motor areas, and the left sensorimotor cortex. The effect of training over time, however, invoked widespread changes encompassing the right sensorimotor cortex, cerebellum, superior parietal cortex, anterior insula and hippocampus, among others. As the training progressed, the activation of these regions decreased while playing music. Post-hoc analysis revealed region-specific time-courses for independent auditory and motor regions of interest. These results suggest that while the primary sensory, motor and frontal regions are associated with playing music, the training decreases the involvement of higher-order cognitive control and integrative regions, and basal ganglia. Moreover, training might affect distinct brain regions in different ways, providing evidence in favour of the dynamic nature of brain plasticity. Significance statementMastering the piano is a unique process requiring a collaboration of multiple brain regions. However, associated brain activation changes are not well understood. Using functional MRI, we showed that playing the piano activated brain areas associated with movement and auditory processing. However, as the novice pianists progressed through their training, the activation of other brain regions, involved in memory retrieval, auditory-motor integration, or the processing of musical syntax, was gradually reduced. Our findings suggest that musical training is an optimisation process, with higher-order cognitive networks being activated more strongly at the beginning and their activity decreasing with increased proficiency.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Learning about threat from friends and strangers is equally effective: an fMRI study on observational fear conditioning

Humans often benefit from social cues when learning about the world. For instance, learning about threats from others can save the individual from dangerous first-hand experiences. Familiarity is believed to increase the effectiveness of social learning, but it is not clear whether it plays a role in learning about threats. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we undertook a naturalistic approach and investigated whether there was a difference between observational fear learning from friends and strangers. Participants (observers) witnessed either their friends or strangers (demonstrators) receiving aversive (shock) stimuli paired with colored squares (observational learning stage). Subsequently, participants watched the same squares, but without receiving any shocks (direct-expression stage). We observed a similar pattern of brain activity in both groups of observers. Regions related to threat responses (amygdala, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex) and social perception (fusiform gyrus, posterior superior temporal sulcus) were activated during the observational phase, reflecting the fear contagion process. The anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex were also activated during the subsequent stage, indicating the expression of learned threat. Because there were no differences between participants observing friends and strangers, we argue that social threat learning is independent of the level of familiarity with the demonstrator. HighlightsO_LIWe compared observational learning of fear from friends and strangers C_LIO_LIFamiliarity does not enhance social learning of fear in humans C_LIO_LIBayesian statistics confirm absence of differences between friends and strangers C_LIO_LIObservational fear learning activates social and fear networks including amygdala C_LIO_LIAmygdala activations are absent when learned fear is recalled C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Wasting food is disgusting: Evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging study of moral judgment of food-wasting behavior

Food-wasting has a profound negative social and environmental impact. Acknowledging that referring to moral judgment can motivate behavior change, the present study aimed to determine moral intuitions underlying the perception of food-wasting behavior. We developed a set of affective standardized scenarios and we used them to collect behavioral and neuroimaging data. In the main study, 50 participants made moral judgments regarding food-wasting, disgusting, harmful, dishonest, or neutral behaviors presented in these scenarios. We found that wasting food was considered morally wrong and it was associated with moral disgust. Neuroimaging data revealed that food-wasting stimuli elicited an increased activity in structures associated with moral judgment, as well as in regions involved in the processing of moral, but also physical disgust. We discuss our results in the context of the evolutionary significance of food that might have led to seeing food-wasting as a moral transgression.

neuroscience↗