The amusic brain: In tune, out of key, and unaware

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The amusic brain: In tune, out of key, and unaware Elvira Brattico1, 2*, Isabelle Peretz3, Miika Järvenpää1, 2 and Mari Tervaniemi1, 2 1 Department of Psychology,University of Helsinki, Finland 2 Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä , Finland 3 BRAMS, Université de Montréal, Canada Music perception and appreciation is universal and it is present early in life. However, for about 4% of the population what others call music is merely disturbing noise. Tone-deafness or congenital amusia, a lifelong disorder of music perception and appreciation, cannot be explained by hearing loss, brain damage, intellectual deficiencies or lack of exposure. Congenital amusia is hereditary and is associated with abnormal grey and white matter in the auditory cortex and the inferior frontal cortex. In order to relate these anatomical anomalies to the behavioral expression of the disorder, we measured the electrical brain activity of amusic subjects and matched controls while they listened to melodies and screened them for the presence of pitch anomalies. Here we show for the first time that the amusic brain can track quarter-tone pitch differences, as reflected from an early right-lateralized brain response. This indicates near-normal neural processing of musical pitch incongruities in congenital amusia. The importance of this finding lies in the revelation of an amusic brain equipped with the essential neural mechanisms to perceive fine-grained pitch differences. What distinguishes the amusic from the normal brain is the absence of awareness of this ability. The study opens avenues for the rehabilitation of congenital amusics, searching for appropriate ways to expose them to music and to allow their implicit melodic pitch perception become explicit. * E. Brattico and I. Peretz are equally contributing authors Conference: Tuning the Brain for Music, Helsinki, Finland, 5 Feb - 6 Feb, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Session Talks Citation: Brattico E, Peretz I, Järvenpää M and Tervaniemi M (2009). The amusic brain: In tune, out of key, and unaware. Conference Abstract: Tuning the Brain for Music. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.02.004 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: 23 Jan 2009; Published Online: 23 Jan 2009. * Correspondence: Elvira Brattico, Department of Psychology,University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, elvira.brattico@clin.au.dk 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 Elvira Brattico Isabelle Peretz Miika Järvenpää Mari Tervaniemi Google Elvira Brattico Isabelle Peretz Miika Järvenpää Mari Tervaniemi Google Scholar Elvira Brattico Isabelle Peretz Miika Järvenpää Mari Tervaniemi PubMed Elvira Brattico Isabelle Peretz Miika Järvenpää Mari Tervaniemi 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.