Exploring the Effects of Brain Stimulation on Musical Taste: TDCS on the Left Dorso-Lateral Prefrontal Cortex-A Null Result

Overview

Journal Brain Sci

Publisher MDPI

Date 2022 Apr 21

PMID 35447998

Authors

Gemma Massetti

Carlotta Lega

Zaira Cattaneo

Alberto Gallace

Giuseppe Vallar

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Humans are the only species capable of experiencing pleasure from esthetic stimuli, such as art and music. Neuroimaging evidence suggests that the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) plays a critical role in esthetic judgments, both in music and in visual art. In the last decade, non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) has been increasingly employed to shed light on the causal role of different brain regions contributing to esthetic appreciation. In Experiment #1, musician ( = 20) and non-musician ( = 20) participants were required to judge musical stimuli in terms of "liking" and "emotions". No significant differences between groups were found, although musicians were slower than non-musicians in both tasks, likely indicating a more analytic judgment, due to musical expertise. Experiment #2 investigated the putative causal role of the left dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex (DLPFC) in the esthetic appreciation of music, by means of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Unlike previous findings in visual art, no significant effects of tDCS were found, suggesting that stimulating the left DLPFC is not enough to affect the esthetic appreciation of music, although this conclusion is based on negative evidence,.

References

Haber S, Knutson B . The reward circuit: linking primate anatomy and human imaging. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2009; 35(1):4-26. PMC: 3055449. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2009.129. View

Asano R, Boeckx C, Seifert U . Hierarchical control as a shared neurocognitive mechanism for language and music. Cognition. 2021; 216:104847. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104847. View

Moos K, Vossel S, Weidner R, Sparing R, Fink G . Modulation of top-down control of visual attention by cathodal tDCS over right IPS. J Neurosci. 2012; 32(46):16360-8. PMC: 6794038. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6233-11.2012. View

Rentfrow P, Gosling S . The do re mi's of everyday life: the structure and personality correlates of music preferences. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003; 84(6):1236-56. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.84.6.1236. View

Kincses T, Antal A, Nitsche M, Bartfai O, Paulus W . Facilitation of probabilistic classification learning by transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex in the human. Neuropsychologia. 2003; 42(1):113-7. DOI: 10.1016/s0028-3932(03)00124-6. View

Rusjan P, Barr M, Farzan F, Arenovich T, Maller J, Fitzgerald P . Optimal transcranial magnetic stimulation coil placement for targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using novel magnetic resonance image-guided neuronavigation. Hum Brain Mapp. 2010; 31(11):1643-52. PMC: 6871247. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20964. View

Muller M, Hofel L, Brattico E, Jacobsen T . Aesthetic judgments of music in experts and laypersons--an ERP study. Int J Psychophysiol. 2010; 76(1):40-51. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2010.02.002. View

Anvari S, Trainor L, Woodside J, Levy B . Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. J Exp Child Psychol. 2002; 83(2):111-30. DOI: 10.1016/s0022-0965(02)00124-8. View

Salimpoor V, van den Bosch I, Kovacevic N, McIntosh A, Dagher A, Zatorre R . Interactions between the nucleus accumbens and auditory cortices predict music reward value. Science. 2013; 340(6129):216-9. DOI: 10.1126/science.1231059. View

10.

Park M, Gutyrchik E, Bao Y, Zaytseva Y, Carl P, Welker L . Differences between musicians and non-musicians in neuro-affective processing of sadness and fear expressed in music. Neurosci Lett. 2014; 566:120-4. DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2014.02.041. View

11.

Zatorre R, Salimpoor V . From perception to pleasure: music and its neural substrates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013; 110 Suppl 2:10430-7. PMC: 3690607. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1301228110. View

12.

OLDFIELD R . The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia. 1971; 9(1):97-113. DOI: 10.1016/0028-3932(71)90067-4. View

13.

Chatterjee A, Vartanian O . Neuroaesthetics. Trends Cogn Sci. 2014; 18(7):370-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.03.003. View

14.

McDermott J, Schultz A, Undurraga E, Godoy R . Indifference to dissonance in native Amazonians reveals cultural variation in music perception. Nature. 2016; 535(7613):547-50. DOI: 10.1038/nature18635. View

15.

Fredrickson W . Perception of tension in music: musicians versus nonmusicians. J Music Ther. 2000; 37(1):40-50. DOI: 10.1093/jmt/37.1.40. View

16.

Cattaneo Z . Neural correlates of visual aesthetic appreciation: insights from non-invasive brain stimulation. Exp Brain Res. 2019; 238(1):1-16. PMC: 6957540. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-019-05685-x. View

17.

Mas-Herrero E, Dagher A, Farres-Franch M, Zatorre R . Unraveling the Temporal Dynamics of Reward Signals in Music-Induced Pleasure with TMS. J Neurosci. 2021; 41(17):3889-3899. PMC: 8084325. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0727-20.2020. View

18.

Mas-Herrero E, Dagher A, Zatorre R . Modulating musical reward sensitivity up and down with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Nat Hum Behav. 2019; 2(1):27-32. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-017-0241-z. View

19.

Fedorenko E, Patel A, Casasanto D, Winawer J, Gibson E . Structural integration in language and music: evidence for a shared system. Mem Cognit. 2008; 37(1):1-9. DOI: 10.3758/MC.37.1.1. View

20.

Cho S, Strafella A . rTMS of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulates dopamine release in the ipsilateral anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. PLoS One. 2009; 4(8):e6725. PMC: 2725302. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006725. View