Abstract
In terms of harmonic expectancy, compared to an expected dominant-to-tonic and an unexpected dominant-to-supertonic, a dominant-to-submediant is a less unexpected cadence, the perception of which may depend on the subject’s musical expertise. The present study investigated how aforementioned 3 different cadences are processed in the networks of bilateral inferior frontal gyri (IFGs) and superior temporal gyri (STGs) with magnetoencephalography. We compared the correct rate and brain connectivity in 9 music-majors (mean age, 23.5 ± 3.4 years; musical training period, 18.7 ± 4.0 years) and 10 non-music-majors (mean age, 25.2 ± 2.6 years; musical training period, 4.2 ± 1.5 years). For the brain connectivity, we computed the summation of partial directed coherence (PDC) values for inflows/outflows to/from each area (sPDCi/sPDCo) in bilateral IFGs and STGs. In the behavioral responses, music-majors were better than non-music-majors for all 3 cadences (p < 0.05). However, sPDCi/sPDCo was prominent only for the dominant-to-submediant in the left IFG. The sPDCi was more strongly enhanced in music-majors than in non-music-majors (p = 0.002, Bonferroni corrected), while the sPDCo was vice versa (p = 0.005, Bonferroni corrected). Our data show that music-majors, with higher musical expertise, are better in identifying a less unexpected cadence than non-music-majors, with connectivity changes centered on the left IFG.
Highlights
Humans exposed to Western tonal music can expect a tonic after a dominant at the end of musical pieces
Consistent with our hypothesis, the difference between groups was only observed in the sPDCi/sPDCo for the Submediant and the left IFG
For musicmajors, the inflows to the left IFG were strongly enhanced compared to the outflows from the left IFG
Summary
Humans exposed to Western tonal music can expect a tonic after a dominant at the end of musical pieces. Compared to a dominant-to-tonic of an “expected” condition, a dominant-to-. Left inferior frontal connectivity and musical expertise supertonic is an “unexpected” condition, eliciting an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) in previous studies [1,2,3]. The ERAN for the unexpected condition is commonly observed both in musicians and non-musicians alike [3, 4]. The dominant-to-submediant lies in between the “expected” and “unexpected”, could be called as “less unexpected”, without eliciting the ERAN of the unexpected condition [2, 3]. The conditional probability [5], of the different chords following the dominant is 0.752 for tonic, 0.106 for submediant, and 0.043 for supertonic
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
