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Beyond auditory cortex: working with musical thoughts
Author(s) -
Zatorre Robert J.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06437.x
Subject(s) - intraparietal sulcus , melody , psychology , functional magnetic resonance imaging , auditory cortex , auditory imagery , cognitive psychology , neural substrate , set (abstract data type) , premotor cortex , musical , cognitive neuroscience of music , superior temporal sulcus , neuroscience , dorsum , mental image , cognition , computer science , medicine , art , visual arts , anatomy , programming language
Musical imagery is associated with neural activity in auditory cortex, but prior studies have not examined musical imagery tasks requiring mental transformations. This paper describes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies requiring manipulation of musical information. In one set of experiments, listeners were asked to mentally reverse a familiar tune when presented backwards. This manipulation consistently elicits neural activity in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Separate experiments requiring judgments about melodies that have been transposed from one musical key to another also elicit IPS activation. Conjunction analyses indicate that the same portions of the IPS are recruited in both tasks. The findings suggest that the dorsal pathway of auditory processing is involved in the manipulation and transformation of auditory information, as has also been shown for visuomotor and visuospatial tasks. As such, it provides a substrate for the creation of new mental representations that are based on manipulation of previously experienced sensory events.