The Relationship of Lyrics and Tunes in the Processing of Unfamiliar Songs: a Functional Magnetic Resonance Adaptation Study

Overview

Journal J Neurosci

Specialty Neurology

Date 2010 Mar 12

PMID 20219991

Citations 26

Authors

Daniela Sammler

Amee Baird

Romain Valabregue

Sylvain Clement

Sophie Dupont

Pascal Belin

Severine Samson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The cognitive relationship between lyrics and tunes in song is currently under debate, with some researchers arguing that lyrics and tunes are represented as separate components, while others suggest that they are processed in integration. The present study addressed this issue by means of a functional magnetic resonance adaptation paradigm during passive listening to unfamiliar songs. The repetition and variation of lyrics and/or tunes in blocks of six songs was crossed in a 2 x 2 factorial design to induce selective adaptation for each component. Reductions of the hemodynamic response were observed along the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus (STS/STG) bilaterally. Within these regions, the left mid-STS showed an interaction of the adaptation effects for lyrics and tunes, suggesting an integrated processing of the two components at prelexical, phonemic processing levels. The degree of integration decayed toward more anterior regions of the left STS, where the lack of such an interaction and the stronger adaptation for lyrics than for tunes was suggestive of an independent processing of lyrics, perhaps resulting from the processing of meaning. Finally, evidence for an integrated representation of lyrics and tunes was found in the left dorsal precentral gyrus (PrCG), possibly relating to the build-up of a vocal code for singing in which musical and linguistic features of song are fused. Overall, these results demonstrate that lyrics and tunes are processed at varying degrees of integration (and separation) through the consecutive processing levels allocated along the posterior-anterior axis of the left STS and the left PrCG.

Citing Articles

A review of the holy Quran listening and its neural correlation for its potential as a psycho-spiritual therapy.

Kannan M, Ab Aziz N, Ab Rani N, Abdullah M, Mohd Rashid M, Shab M Heliyon. 2022; 8(12):e12308.

PMID: 36578419 PMC: 9791337. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12308.

A neural population selective for song in human auditory cortex.

Norman-Haignere S, Feather J, Boebinger D, Brunner P, Ritaccio A, McDermott J Curr Biol. 2022; 32(7):1470-1484.e12.

PMID: 35196507 PMC: 9092957. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.069.

Multivariate FMRI Signatures of Learning in a Hebb Repetition Paradigm With Tone Sequences.

Loo C, Lee A, Buchsbaum B Front Neurol. 2021; 12:674275.

PMID: 34912281 PMC: 8666569. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2021.674275.

Recursive music elucidates neural mechanisms supporting the generation and detection of melodic hierarchies.

Martins M, Fischmeister F, Gingras B, Bianco R, Puig-Waldmueller E, Villringer A Brain Struct Funct. 2020; 225(7):1997-2015.

PMID: 32591927 PMC: 7473971. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-020-02105-7.

The Overlooked Tradition of "Personal Music" and Its Place in the Evolution of Music.

Nikolsky A, Alekseyev E, Alekseev I, Dyakonova V Front Psychol. 2020; 10:3051.

PMID: 32132941 PMC: 7040865. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.03051.

References

Belin P, Zatorre R, Lafaille P, Ahad P, Pike B . Voice-selective areas in human auditory cortex. Nature. 2000; 403(6767):309-12. DOI: 10.1038/35002078. View

Binder J . The new neuroanatomy of speech perception. Brain. 2000; 123 Pt 12:2371-2. DOI: 10.1093/brain/123.12.2371. View

Bigand E, Tillmann B, Poulin B, DAdamo D, Madurell F . The effect of harmonic context on phoneme monitoring in vocal music. Cognition. 2001; 81(1):B11-20. DOI: 10.1016/s0010-0277(01)00117-2. View

HEBERT S, Peretz I . Are text and tune of familiar songs separable by brain damage?. Brain Cogn. 2001; 46(1-2):169-75. DOI: 10.1016/s0278-2626(01)80058-0. View

Naccache L, Dehaene S . The priming method: imaging unconscious repetition priming reveals an abstract representation of number in the parietal lobes. Cereb Cortex. 2001; 11(10):966-74. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/11.10.966. View

Bonnel A, Faita F, Peretz I, Besson M . Divided attention between lyrics and tunes of operatic songs: evidence for independent processing. Percept Psychophys. 2002; 63(7):1201-13. DOI: 10.3758/bf03194534. View

Zatorre R, Belin P, Penhune V . Structure and function of auditory cortex: music and speech. Trends Cogn Sci. 2002; 6(1):37-46. DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(00)01816-7. View

Vandenberghe R, Nobre A, Price C . The response of left temporal cortex to sentences. J Cogn Neurosci. 2002; 14(4):550-60. DOI: 10.1162/08989290260045800. View

Patterson R, Uppenkamp S, Johnsrude I, Griffiths T . The processing of temporal pitch and melody information in auditory cortex. Neuron. 2002; 36(4):767-76. DOI: 10.1016/s0896-6273(02)01060-7. View

10.

Scott S, Johnsrude I . The neuroanatomical and functional organization of speech perception. Trends Neurosci. 2003; 26(2):100-7. DOI: 10.1016/S0166-2236(02)00037-1. View

11.

Davis M, Johnsrude I . Hierarchical processing in spoken language comprehension. J Neurosci. 2003; 23(8):3423-31. PMC: 6742313. View

12.

Hebert S, Racette A, Gagnon L, Peretz I . Revisiting the dissociation between singing and speaking in expressive aphasia. Brain. 2003; 126(Pt 8):1838-50. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awg186. View

13.

Henson R . Neuroimaging studies of priming. Prog Neurobiol. 2003; 70(1):53-81. DOI: 10.1016/s0301-0082(03)00086-8. View

14.

Hickok G, Buchsbaum B, Humphries C, Muftuler T . Auditory-motor interaction revealed by fMRI: speech, music, and working memory in area Spt. J Cogn Neurosci. 2003; 15(5):673-82. DOI: 10.1162/089892903322307393. View

15.

Belin P, Zatorre R . Adaptation to speaker's voice in right anterior temporal lobe. Neuroreport. 2003; 14(16):2105-9. DOI: 10.1097/00001756-200311140-00019. View

16.

Koelsch S, Kasper E, Sammler D, Schulze K, Gunter T, Friederici A . Music, language and meaning: brain signatures of semantic processing. Nat Neurosci. 2004; 7(3):302-7. DOI: 10.1038/nn1197. View

17.

Friederici A, Alter K . Lateralization of auditory language functions: a dynamic dual pathway model. Brain Lang. 2004; 89(2):267-76. DOI: 10.1016/S0093-934X(03)00351-1. View

18.

Noppeney U, Price C . An FMRI study of syntactic adaptation. J Cogn Neurosci. 2004; 16(4):702-13. DOI: 10.1162/089892904323057399. View

19.

Poulin-Charronnat B, Bigand E, Madurell F, Peereman R . Musical structure modulates semantic priming in vocal music. Cognition. 2004; 94(3):B67-78. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2004.05.003. View

20.

New B, Pallier C, Brysbaert M, Ferrand L . Lexique 2: a new French lexical database. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 2005; 36(3):516-24. DOI: 10.3758/bf03195598. View