Abstract
Congenital amusia is a neurogenetic disorder that mainly affects the processing of musical pitch. Brain imaging evidence indicates that it is associated with abnormal structural and functional connections in the fronto-temporal region. However, a holistic understanding of the anatomical topology underlying amusia is still lacking. Here, we used probabilistic diffusion tensor imaging tractography and graph theory to examine whole brain white matter structural connectivity in 31 Mandarin-speaking amusics and 24 age- and IQ-matched controls. Amusics showed significantly reduced global connectivity, as indicated by the abnormally decreased clustering coefficient (Cp) and increased normalized shortest path length (λ) compared to the controls. Moreover, amusics exhibited enhanced nodal strength in the right inferior parietal lobule relative to controls. The co-existence of the lexical tone deficits was associated with even more deteriorated global network efficiency in amusics, as suggested by the significant correlation between the increments in normalized shortest path length (λ) and the insensitivity in lexical tone perception. Our study is the first to reveal reduced global connectivity efficiency in amusics as well as an increase in the global connectivity cost due to the co-existed lexical tone deficits. Taken together these results provide a holistic perspective on the anatomical substrates underlying congenital amusia.
Highlights
Music constitutes an essential part of our lives
Understanding the brain network traits in Mandarin amusics that underlie musical pitch deficits and lexical tone difficulties will expand our knowledge on the nature of amusia and inform us on the
We found a significant increase in the normalized shortest path length λ(p = 0.031) and a significant decrease in the clustering coefficient Cp (p = 0.012) for amusics relative to controls (Figs 1 and 2A)
Summary
Approximately 4% of the general population experiences a lifelong disorder in music perception and production, which is a neurodevelopmental condition known as congenital amusia (amusia or amusics hereafter)[1]. These individuals demonstrate a characteristic musical pitch deficit[2], with no clear neurological origin nor due to a lack of musical experiences. Understanding the brain network traits in Mandarin amusics that underlie musical pitch deficits and lexical tone difficulties will expand our knowledge on the nature of amusia and inform us on the www.nature.com/scientificreports/. Previous studies have demonstrated that a brain structural network can be constructed using noninvasive diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at the macroscale[16] and can be further analysed based on graph theory to reveal the connectivity patterns of complex networks[15]
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