Hear My Music Conference: ‘Embedding Equity: Inclusive by Design’

Event Abstract Back to Event Neural dynamics during simultaneous processing of music and language Elisa Carrus1*, Marcus Pearce1, Geraint Wiggins1 and Joydeep Bhattacharya1 1 Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Neural mechanisms underlying the processing of music and language have received increasing attention in recent years. Electrophysiological research based on event-related potentials has suggested a possible overlap of resources involved in the processing of syntax in language and music (Koelsch et al., 2005). However, these studies relied exclusively on signal averaging techniques, which do not adequately represent oscillatory electrical brain activity. Aims: the primary aim of the study was to investigate the neural dynamics involved in simultaneous processing of language and melodies. Analyses of oscillatory responses as well as phase synchronization were carried out in order to understand the degree of locally and globally synchronized neuronal assemblies. Multivariate EEG signals were recorded while participants processed visually presented sentences and auditorily presented melodies. Expected or unexpected melodies occurred synchronously with four types of language sentences: correct, incorrect syntax, incongruous semantics, incorrect syntax and incongruous semantics. Music stimuli were built following a computational model developed by Pearce and Wiggins (2006). Melodies were either highly probable or highly improbable in the context of information content. A pattern of neural interactions between music and language processing was revealed suggesting shared neural resources in the processing of music and language. Keywords: Language, Music Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neural Bases of Language Citation: Carrus E, Pearce M, Wiggins G and Bhattacharya J (2011). Neural dynamics during simultaneous processing of music and language. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00198 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 21 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Elisa Carrus, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom, e.carrus@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Elisa Carrus Marcus Pearce Geraint Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya Google Elisa Carrus Marcus Pearce Geraint Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya Google Scholar Elisa Carrus Marcus Pearce Geraint Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya PubMed Elisa Carrus Marcus Pearce Geraint Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Event Abstract Back to Event Expectation violations in music increase physiological arousal Marcus Pearce1*, Marisa Doyne1, Geraint A. Wiggins1 and Joydeep Bhattacharya1 1 Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Emotional and aesthetic experience of music are thought to be closely related to fulfillment and violation of a listener’s expectations. In particular, it has been proposed that expectation violations generate emotional and physical responses by increasing physiological arousal. We test the hypothesis that violations of pitch expectation introduced by new melodic structures increase arousal. Fourteen musically trained participants listened to a minimalist composition, Two Pages by Philip Glass (1968), which consists of 75 figures each comprising an isochronous melody composed from an alphabet of 5 notes. Each figure is repeated a fixed number of times (from 1 to 34). Electrodermal activity, a marker of physiological arousal, was measured using electrodes attached to the palmar surface of the index and middle fingers of the medial phalange of the left hand and recorded at 100 Hz using a constant voltage coupler connected via fibre optic cables to a 12 bit Analogue-Digital-Converter. Prior to analysis the data were down-sampled to 10 Hz, converted to conductance measures and z-scored for each participant individually. Epochs were extracted corresponding to the first and last appearance of each repeating figure and average skin conductance was computed across all samples in the epoch. Paired Wilcoxon tests (non-parametric tests used due to skewness in the data) indicate significantly higher skin conductance for the first repetition of a figure than for the last. The results demonstrate increases in physiological arousal when new melodic material is introduced in musical listening. We argue that these increases are due to violations of pitch expectation as predicted by cognitive theories of emotional and aesthetic experience of music. Funding: Supported by EPSRC. Keywords: Cognition, Music Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neurophysiology of Cognition and Attention Citation: Pearce M, Doyne M, Wiggins GA and Bhattacharya J (2011). Expectation violations in music increase physiological arousal. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00443 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 25 Nov 2011; Published Online: 28 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Marcus Pearce, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom, marcus.pearce@qmul.ac.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Marcus Pearce Marisa Doyne Geraint A Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya Google Marcus Pearce Marisa Doyne Geraint A Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya Google Scholar Marcus Pearce Marisa Doyne Geraint A Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya PubMed Marcus Pearce Marisa Doyne Geraint A Wiggins Joydeep Bhattacharya Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

The Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference has a long tradition. For many years, it took place in the United Kingdom, where it was attended by a relatively small group of scholars. Around the beginning of the new millennium, however, when it was decided that the conference would be hosted on the Continent in alternate years, the ‘MedRen’ has gradually changed into a large-scale conference, a prestigious but relaxing meeting place for musicologists in all possible career stages. This year's host was the Music Department of the University of Vienna (7–11 August 2007). Thanks to the sublime organization by Birgit Lodes and Stefan Gasch, we enjoyed five highly stimulating days, during which more than 100 speakers from about 20 countries dealt with all aspects of music between the 9th and 16th centuries. On the first evening, Reinhard Strohm set the tone with a very rich keynote lecture on ‘Nähe und Ferne der frühen europäischen Musik’, that was framed by a small concert with students from the institute. A couple of days later, Strohm also gave a paper on his most recent findings about the Lucca Choirbook, with special attention to some newly discovered parchment leaves that contain music by Pullois, Domarto and Peragulfus. In the same session, Benjamin Brand shed light on some exercises in mensural counterpoint that reflect John Hothby's teaching programme at the Cathedral of Lucca from 1467 to 1486.