Pitch and Rhythm Perception and Verbal Short-Term Memory in Acute Traumatic Brain Injury.

Kirsten S Anderson,Maude Laguë-Beauvais,Abbas F Sadikot,Judith Marcoux,Nathalie Gosselin,Elaine De Guise,Esther S H Kang,Alexandra E Fogarty,Jehane Dagher

doi:10.3390/brainsci11091173

Abstract

Music perception deficits are common following acquired brain injury due to stroke, epilepsy surgeries, and aneurysmal clipping. Few studies have examined these deficits following traumatic brain injury (TBI), resulting in an under-diagnosis in this population. We aimed to (1) compare TBI patients to controls on pitch and rhythm perception during the acute phase; (2) determine whether pitch and rhythm perception disorders co-occur; (3) examine lateralization of injury in the context of pitch and rhythm perception; and (4) determine the relationship between verbal short-term memory (STM) and pitch and rhythm perception. Music perception was examined using the Scale and Rhythm tests of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia, in association with CT scans to identify lesion laterality. Verbal short-term memory was examined using Digit Span Forward. TBI patients had greater impairment than controls, with 43% demonstrating deficits in pitch perception, and 40% in rhythm perception. Deficits were greater with right hemisphere damage than left. Pitch and rhythm deficits co-occurred 31% of the time, suggesting partly dissociable networks. There was a dissociation between performance on verbal STM and pitch and rhythm perception 39 to 42% of the time (respectively), with most individuals (92%) demonstrating intact verbal STM, with impaired pitch or rhythm perception. The clinical implications of music perception deficits following TBI are discussed.

Highlights

The present study demonstrates that damage to right frontal areas, which are fundamental to pitch processing in short-term memory, may cause deficits in pitch perception, while leaving verbal short-term memory intact
We have shown that patients with acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) have a high incidence of pitch and rhythm processing deficits that was previously under-recognized in this population
Pitch and rhythm deficits co-occur in TBI patients one third of the time, but occur separately two-thirds of the time

Summary

Introduction

Music perception deficits after acquired brain injury and neurosurgical interventions are often referred to in the literature as acquired amusia. Whereas acquired music perception deficits have been studied in the context of stroke [4,5,6,7,8,9,10], surgical interventions following epilepsy [10,11,12,13,14], and the clipping of 4.0/). Aneurysms [15,16,17], few studies have examined deficits in music perception following traumatic brain injury (TBI) [18,19,20]. Patients with head injury may show evidence of acquired amusia to various degrees, these deficits have not been studied using rigorous quantitative measures integrated with brain imaging findings

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