Changes in music tempo entrain movement related brain activity

Daly, I; Hallowell, J; Hwang, F; Kirke, A; Malik, A; Roesch, E; Weaver, J; Williams, DAH; Miranda, E; Nasuto, SJ

Abstract

The neural mechanisms of music listening and appreciation are not yet completely understood. Based on the apparent relationship between the beats per minute (tempo) of music and the desire to move (for example feet tapping) induced while listening to that music it is hypothesised that musical tempo may evoke movement related activity in the brain. Participants are instructed to listen, without moving, to a large range of musical pieces spanning a range of styles and tempos during an electroencephalogram (EEG) experiment. Event-related desynchronisation (ERD) in the EEG is observed to correlate significantly with the variance of the tempo of the musical stimuli. This suggests that the dynamics of the beat of the music may induce movement related brain activity in the motor cortex. Furthermore, significant correlations are observed between EEG activity in the alpha band over the motor cortex and the bandpower of the music in the same frequency band over time. This relationship is observed to correlate with the strength of the ERD, suggesting entrainment of motor cortical activity relates to increased ERD strength.

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: 2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
• Start Date: Aug 26, 2014
• End Date: Aug 30, 2014
• Publication Date: Nov 6, 2014
• Deposit Date: Dec 12, 2019
• Book Title: 2014 36th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
• ISBN: 9781424479290
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/embc.2014.6944647
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1109/embc.2014.6944647
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference; Funders : Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); Grant Number: EP/J003077/1; Grant Number: EP/J002135/1