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Directed motor-auditory EEG connectivity is modulated by music tempo

Nicolaou, N; Malik, A; Daly, I; Weaver, J; Hwang, F; Kirke, A; Roesch, EB; Williams, DAH; Miranda, ER; Nasuto, SJ

Directed motor-auditory EEG connectivity is modulated by music tempo Thumbnail


Authors

N Nicolaou

A Malik

I Daly

J Weaver

F Hwang

A Kirke

EB Roesch

ER Miranda

SJ Nasuto



Abstract

Beat perception is fundamental to how we experience music, and yet the mechanism behind this spontaneous building of the internal beat representation is largely unknown. Existing findings support links between the tempo (speed) of the beat and enhancement of electroencephalogram (EEG) activity at tempo-related frequencies, but there are no studies looking at how tempo may affect the underlying long-range interactions between EEG activity at different electrodes. The present study investigates these long-range interactions using EEG activity recorded from 21 volunteers listening to music stimuli played at 4 different tempi (50, 100, 150 and 200 beats per minute). The music stimuli consisted of piano excerpts designed to convey the emotion of “peacefulness”. Noise stimuli with an identical acoustic content to the music excerpts were also presented for comparison purposes. The brain activity interactions were characterized with the imaginary part of coherence (iCOH) in the frequency range 1.5–18 Hz (δ, θ, α and lower β) between all pairs of EEG electrodes for the four tempi and the music/noise conditions, as well as a baseline resting state (RS) condition obtained at the start of the experimental task. Our findings can be summarized as follows: (a) there was an ongoing long-range interaction in the RS engaging fronto-posterior areas; (b) this interaction was maintained in both music and noise, but its strength and directionality were modulated as a result of acoustic stimulation; (c) the topological patterns of iCOH were similar for music, noise and RS, however statistically significant differences in strength and direction of iCOH were identified; and (d) tempo had an effect on the direction and strength of motor-auditory interactions. Our findings are in line with existing literature and illustrate a part of the mechanism by which musical stimuli with different tempi can entrain changes in cortical activity.

Citation

Nicolaou, N., Malik, A., Daly, I., Weaver, J., Hwang, F., Kirke, A., …Nasuto, S. (2017). Directed motor-auditory EEG connectivity is modulated by music tempo. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00502

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 2, 2017
Online Publication Date Oct 18, 2017
Publication Date Oct 18, 2017
Deposit Date Dec 12, 2019
Publicly Available Date Dec 12, 2019
Journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Publisher Frontiers Media
Volume 11
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00502
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00502
Related Public URLs https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience
Additional Information Funders : Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number: EP/J003077/1
Grant Number: EP/J002135/1

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