Biology subjects

Zatorre, R. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Zatorre, R. J..

10 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Decoding Individual Musical Pitches in Perception and Imagery using Evoked Theta and Beta Power in EEG

Imagery evokes perceptual-like experiences and recruits similar neural activity to perception. In music, this shared activity has already been established in secondary auditory cortex, yet the nature of the representation is not fully understood; specifically, it is not clear whether the identity of individual imagined pitches can be decoded from brain activity. Using temporal lobe EEG channels, we examined the shared evoked patterns of musical pitch perception and imagery, and decoded individual imagined pitches from evoked oscillatory power across three conditions (Perception, Imagery, Random Pitch). Twenty-two participants heard the opening tones of a familiar melody, imagined its continuation, and judged whether a final probe tone matched the original note; a random-pitch condition served as a control. Replicating previous findings, the evoked perceptual pattern was reinstated during imagery, particularly in the right temporal channels, which showed stronger event-related potential correlations and a larger mismatch negativity to the probe tone than the left. A multiclass support vector machine decoded individual pitch identity from evoked oscillatory power (phase-locked activity time-locked to each tone onset) exceeding chance in all conditions, with accuracy higher for Perception and Imagery than Random Pitch. The optimal oscillatory bands differed across conditions: theta-beta gave the highest accuracy for Perception and Imagery, theta-alpha for the Random Pitch. These results demonstrate that individual pitch information is present during both perception and imagery, and that the theta-beta signature shared by the predictive contexts, distinct from the control, suggests a contribution of predictive processing. Significance StatementMusical imagery -- the experience of "hearing" music in the minds ear -- recruits brain activity resembling perception, yet whether the pitch specific information during imagery can be read out from this activity has remained unknown. Using EEG, we show for the first time that individual imagined pitches can be decoded from evoked oscillatory power, and that perception and imagery share a spectral signature (theta-beta) absent from a non-predictive random-pitch control. This dissociation indicates that imagined pitch reflects top-down predictions reactivating sensory representations, consistent with a predictive-coding view of imagery. These findings clarify the oscillatory basis of musical imagery and establish that its specific content is recoverable from non-invasive signals, informing future imagery-based brain-computer interfaces.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Mu suppression reveals auditory-motor predictions after short motor training in non-musicians

Auditory-motor coupling is a bidirectional neural mechanism that supports speech and music, with evidence of motor system activation during passive listening to both spoken language and learned melodies. Such activation is anticipatory, occurs in non-musicians, and can be elicited at the single-note level. These findings support the idea that motor activity guides auditory perception by relaying predictive timing information. However, the neural processes underlying this activity are not fully understood. EEG studies in musicians have linked it to mu-band suppression, but the temporal scale and the generalizability to the broader population remain unclear. We recruited 25 non-musicians who learned to play a simple melody on a piano-like keyboard. Before and after training, participants passively listened to the trained melody and control melodies. Offline, EEG data from the motor training were used to create a time-frequency mask with which to identify mu suppression occurring during passive listening. Significant mu suppression emerged before each note only during post-training exposure to the practiced melody. Results suggest that mu suppression occurs at the single-note level following short motor training and is not dependent on prior musical experience. Our findings support the notion that motor activity aids perception by anticipating the unfolding of learned auditory-motor sequences.

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bioRxiv2024

Auditory working memory mediates the relationship between musicianship and auditory stream segregation

This study investigates the interactions between musicianship and two auditory cognitive mechanisms: auditory working memory (AWM) and stream segregation. The primary hypothesis is that AWM mediates the relationship between musical training and enhanced stream segregation capabilities. Two groups of listeners were tested, the first to establish the relationship between the two variables and the second to replicate the effect in an independent sample. Music history and behavioural data were collected from a total of 145 healthy young adults with normal binaural hearing. They performed a task that requires manipulation of tonal patterns in working memory, and the Music-in-Noise Task (MINT), which measures stream segregation abilities in a musical context. The MINT task expands measurements beyond traditional Speech-in-Noise (SIN) assessments by capturing auditory subskills (e.g., rhythm, visual, spatial, prediction) relevant to stream segregation. Our results showed that musical training is associated with enhanced AWM and MINT task performance, and that this effect is replicable across independent samples. Moreover, we found in both samples that the enhancement of stream segregation was largely mediated by AWM capacity. The results suggest that musical training and/or aptitude enhances music-in-noise perception by way of improved AWM capacity.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Distinct genetic pathways to music enjoyment

Humans engage with music for various reasons that range from emotional regulation and relaxation to social bonding. While there are large inter-individual differences in how much humans enjoy music, little is known about the origins of those differences. Here, we disentangled the genetic factors underlying such variation. We collected behavioural data on several facets of music reward sensitivity, music perceptual ability, and general reward sensitivity from a large sample of Swedish twins (N = 9,169). We found that genetic factors substantially explain variance in music reward sensitivity above and beyond genetic influences shared with music perception and general reward sensitivity. Furthermore, multivariate analyses showed that genetic influences on the different facets of music reward sensitivity are partly distinct, uncovering distinct pathways to music enjoyment and different patterns of genetic associations with objectively assessed music perceptual abilities. These results paint a complex picture in which partially distinct sources of genetic variation contribute to different aspects of musical enjoyment and open up new possibilities for using inter-individual differences to gain insights into the biology of a key aspect of human behaviour.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2024

Information-based rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation accelerates learning during auditory working memory training.

Rhythmic transcranial magnetic stimulation (rhTMS) has been shown to enhance auditory working memory manipulation, specifically by boosting theta oscillatory power in the dorsal auditory pathway during task performance. It remains unclear whether these enhancements i) persist beyond the period of stimulation, ii) if they can accelerate learning and iii) if they would accumulate over several days of stimulation. In the present study, we investigated the lasting behavioural and electrophysiological effects of applying rhTMS over the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) throughout the course of seven sessions of cognitive training on an auditory working memory task. Fourteen neurologically healthy participants took part in the training protocol with an auditory working memory task while being stimulated with either theta (5Hz) rhTMS or sham TMS. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded before, throughout five training sessions and after the end of training to assess to effects of rhTMS on behavioural performance and on oscillatory entrainment of the dorsal auditory network. We show that this combined approach enhances theta oscillatory activity within the fronto-parietal network and causes improvements in auditory working memory performance. We show that compared to individuals who received sham stimulation, cognitive training can be accelerated when combined with optimized rhTMS, and that task performance benefits can outlast the training period by up to 3 days. Furthermore, we show that there is increased theta oscillatory power within the recruited dorsal auditory network during training, and that sustained EEG changes can be observed up to 3 days following stimulation. The present study improves our understanding of the causal dynamic interactions supporting auditory working memory. Our results constitute an important proof of concept for the potential translational impact of non-invasive brain stimulation protocols and provide preliminary data for developing optimized rhTMS and training protocols that could be implemented in clinical populations.

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bioRxiv2023

Spectro-temporal acoustical markers differentiate speech from song across cultures

Humans produce two forms of cognitively complex vocalizations: speech and song. It is debated whether these differ based primarily on culturally specific, learned features, or if acoustical features can reliably distinguish them. We study the spectro-temporal modulation patterns of vocalizations produced by 369 people living in 21 urban, rural, and small-scale societies across six continents. Specific ranges of spectral and temporal modulations, overlapping within categories and across societies, significantly differentiate speech from song. Machine-learning classification shows that this effect is cross-culturally robust, vocalizations being reliably classified solely from their spectro-temporal features across all 21 societies. Listeners unfamiliar with the cultures classify these vocalizations using similar spectro-temporal cues as the machine learning algorithm. Finally, spectro-temporal features are better able to discriminate song from speech than a broad range of other acoustical variables, suggesting that spectro-temporal modulation--a key feature of auditory neuronal tuning--accounts for a fundamental difference between these categories. Two-Sentence SummaryWhat distinguishes singing from speaking? The authors show that consistent acoustical spectro-temporal features are sufficient to distinguish speech and song reliably across different societies throughout the world.

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bioRxiv2020

Effector-independent brain network for auditory-motor integration: fMRI evidence from singing and cello playing

Many everyday tasks share high-level sensory goals but differ in the movements used to accomplish them. One example of this is musical pitch regulation, where the same notes can be produced using the vocal system or a musical instrument controlled by the hands. Cello playing has previously been shown to rely on brain structures within the singing network for performance of single notes, except in areas related to primary motor control, suggesting that the brain networks for auditory feedback processing and sensorimotor integration may be shared (Segado et al. 2018). However, research has shown that singers and cellists alike can continue singing/playing in tune even in the absence of auditory feedback (Chen et al. 2013, Kleber et al. 2013), so different paradigms are required to test feedback monitoring and control mechanisms. In singing, auditory pitch feedback perturbation paradigms have been used to show that singers engage a network of brain regions including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (aINS), and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) when compensating for altered pitch feedback, and posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) and supramarginal gyrus (SMG) when ignoring it (Zarate et al. 2005, 2008). To determine whether the brain networks for cello playing and singing directly overlap in these sensory-motor integration areas, in the present study expert cellists were asked to compensate for or ignore introduced pitch perturbations when singing/playing during fMRI scanning. We found that cellists were able to sing/play target tones, and compensate for and ignore introduced feedback perturbations equally well. Brain activity overlapped for singing and playing in IPS and SMG when compensating, and pSTG and dPMC when ignoring; differences between singing/playing across all three conditions were most prominent in M1, centered on the relevant motor effectors (hand, larynx). These findings support the hypothesis that pitch regulation during cello playing relies on structures within the singing network and suggests that differences arise primarily at the level of forward motor control. HighlightsO_LIExpert cellists were asked to compensate for or ignore introduced pitch perturbations when singing/playing during fMRI scanning. C_LIO_LICellists were able to sing/play target tones, and compensate for and ignore introduced feedback perturbations equally well. C_LIO_LIBrain activity overlapped for singing and playing in IPS and SMG when compensating, and pSTG and dPMC when ignoring. C_LIO_LIDifferences between singing/playing across were most prominent in M1, centered around the relevant motor effectors (hand, larynx) C_LIO_LIFindings support the hypothesis that pitch regulation during cello playing relies on structures within the singing network with differences arising primarily at the level of forward motor control C_LI

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bioRxiv2020

Mapping the contents of consciousness during musical imagery

Humans can internally represent auditory information without an external stimulus. When imagining music, how similar are unfolding neural representations to those during the original perceived experience? Can rhythmic motion influence the neural representation of music during imagery as during perception? Participants first memorized six one-minute-long instrumental musical pieces with high accuracy. Functional MRI data were collected during: 1) silent imagery of melodies to the beat of a visual metronome; 2) same but while tapping to the beat; and 3) passive listening. During imagery, inter-subject comparison showed that melody-specific temporal response patterns were reinstated in right associative auditory cortices. When tapping accompanied imagery, the melody-specific neural patterns were extended to associative cortices bilaterally. These results indicate that the specific contents of conscious experience are encoded similarly during imagery and perception in the dynamic activity of auditory cortices. Furthermore, rhythmic motion can enhance the reinstatement of neural patterns associated with the experience of complex sounds, in keeping with models of motor to sensory influences in auditory processing.

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bioRxiv2020

Common and distinct neural correlates of music and food-induced pleasure: a coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies.

Neuroimaging studies have shown that, despite the abstractness of music, it may mimic biologically rewarding stimuli (e.g. food) in its ability to engage the brains reward circuity. However, due to the lack of research comparing music and other types of reward, it is unclear to what extent the recruitment of reward-related structures overlaps among domains. To achieve this goal, we performed a coordinate-based meta-analysis of 38 neuroimaging studies (703 subjects) comparing the brain responses specifically to music and food-induced pleasure. Both engaged a common set of brain regions including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and insula. Yet, comparative analyses indicated a partial dissociation in the engagement of the reward circuitry as a function of the type of reward, as well as additional reward type-specific activations in brain regions related to perception, sensory processing, and learning. These results support the idea that hedonic reactions rely on the engagement of a common reward network, yet through specific routes of access depending on the modality and nature of the reward.

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bioRxiv2018

Network-based asymmetry of the human auditory system

Converging evidence from activation, connectivity and stimulation studies suggests that auditory brain networks are lateralized. Here we show that these findings can be at least partly explained by the asymmetric network embedding of the primary auditory cortices. Using diffusion-weighted imaging in three independent datasets, we investigate the propensity for left and right auditory cortex to communicate with other brain areas by quantifying the centrality of the auditory network across a spectrum of communication mechanisms, from shortest path communication to diffusive spreading. Across all datasets, we find that the right auditory cortex is better integrated in the connectome, facilitating more efficient communication with other areas, with much of the asymmetry driven by differences in communication pathways to the opposite hemisphere. Critically, the primacy of the right auditory cortex emerges only when communication is conceptualized as a diffusive process, taking advantage of more than just the topologically shortest paths in the network. Altogether, these results highlight how the network configuration and embedding of a particular region may contribute to its functional lateralization.

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