Music in the first days of life

Daniela Perani,Rosanna Rovelli,Cristina Baldoli,Paola Scifo,Stefan Koelsch,Maria Cristina Saccuman,Guido Andreolli,Danilo Spada

doi:10.1038/npre.2008.2114.1

Abstract

AbstractIn adults, specific neural systems with right-hemispheric weighting are necessary to process pitch, melody and harmony, as well as structure and meaning emerging from musical sequences. To which extent does this neural specialization result from exposure to music or from neurobiological predispositions? We used fMRI to measure brain activity in 1 to 3 days old newborns while listening to Western tonal music, and to the same excerpts altered, so as to include tonal violations or dissonance. Music caused predominant right hemisphere activations in primary and higher-order auditory cortex. For altered music, activations were seen in the left inferior frontal cortex and limbic structures. Thus, the newborn&apos;s brain is able to plenty receive music and to figure out even small perceptual and structural differences in the music sequences. This neural architecture present at birth provides us the potential to process basic and complex aspects of music, a uniquely human capacity.

Highlights

Infants listened to two 7-minute sequences, with music blocks alternating between conditions and silence in pseudo-random order (Music – Silence – Altered Music – Silence), with each of the two sequences containing only one kind of music alteration
The blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response to each stimulus condition compared to baseline was estimated with multiple regressions, in a model that included the output from the motion-correction algorithm as regressors of no interest
Analyses for Music vs. Silence, showed an extended right hemispheric activation cluster focused in the superior temporal gyrus, from the primary and secondary auditory cortex, extending anteriorly towards the planum polare, posteriorly to the planum temporale, the temporoparietal junction and the inferior parietal lobule

Summary

Introduction

Infants listened to two 7-minute sequences, with music blocks alternating between conditions and silence in pseudo-random order (Music – Silence – Altered Music – Silence) (see fig. 1, B), with each of the two sequences containing only one kind of music alteration. Infants listened to two 7-minute sequences, with music blocks alternating between conditions and silence in pseudo-random order (Music – Silence – Altered Music – Silence) Each infant’s usable sequences were registered to one stable scan for within-subject motion correction and realignment. Images were registered to an infant template created from the group’s functional scans. The blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response to each stimulus condition compared to baseline was estimated with multiple regressions, in a model that included the output from the motion-correction algorithm as regressors of no interest. A second level random-effects model was used to create group maps in the common template space. The estimates obtained through the regression were entered in two-way mixed-effects ANOVAs performed on each voxel in template space, with stimulus type as fixed variable, and subjects as random variables

Methods

Results

Conclusion