The Mind on Music

Music is an indispensible part of the human experience. It arises from the seemingly
strange ability of the brain to recognize patterns from tone sequences which are
fundamentally physically similar to other sounds we would not call music. So how is it that
the brain can perceive music? And how does it have the emotional content associated with
it? In this report, a sample of various researches and studies regarding this most human
experience are presented with emphasis on how the brain responds to music.
Sensation
Information about sound is gathered by our ears. Sound waves enter via the auditory
canal, at the end of which the vibration of the air molecules causes the tympanic membrane,
also known as the eardrum, to vibrate. Its vibration in turn jostles a set of small bones—the
malleus, the incus and the stapes. The stapes is connected to the cochlea, a fluid-filled
structure, via the so-called “oval window”. The stapes’ oscillation causes the fluid in the
cochlea to move. The motion of the fluid causes special sensory hair cells in the cochlea to
move in turn, converting the mechanical energy of the motion into electrical pulses carried
by thousands of nerves to the brain.
Now, the hair cells are all lined up on the basilar membrane, a stiff structure that
runs along the length of the cochlea. The membrane tapers towards the end and becomes
stiffer there so different frequencies of sound will cause maximum vibration at different parts
of the membrane, with the lower notes exciting the hair cells towards the base, while higher
frequencies will excite those towards the tapered end [2]. Therefore, different frequencies of
sound will induce electrical signals on different sets of neurons that will carry the signal to
the auditory cortex.
However, there is nothing in the sound in itself that can be called “music”. Orderly
and consistent structures that we group the sounds into, like chords or harmonics or scales,
cannot be found in the sound itself for there is nothing explicit about the frequency nor in the
amplitude of the sound that will tell whether our brain will perceive it as a harmonious
melody or as noise. For example, we hear the middle C, which is approximately 261.6 Hz in
frequency, to be similar in nature to the pitch an octave above it, which has twice the
frequency (523.3Hz) [1]. The question naturally arises as to how the brain perceives two
completely different frequencies to be similar notes an octave apart? The chromatic
scale—a western musical scale of 12 notes each a semitone apart: C, D♭,D,E♭,E,F,G♭,G,A
♭,A,B♭,B—is composed of notes whose frequencies are exactly 2 times larger than the
12

note below. A lot of western music is based on the notes of this scale, whether it’s a
pentatonic scale (5 notes per octave) based blues or a classical piece utilizing all the notes
of the key of G♯-minor. However, other cultures use other systems, and scales themselves
can be created, as is being done in the area of progressive rock and related areas. Also, we
tend to find certain combinations of pitches to be pleasant. Major triads and minor triads are
examples of frequently recurring groups of pitches that we find pleasant, and it is generally
known that chords whose notes have frequency ratios that are ratios of small integers are
pleasant to hear [3]. (For example, the notes on the major triad—the root, the major third
and the perfect fifth—have a frequency ratio of 4:5:6). We are thus faced with the problem of
how the brain interprets the signals it receives from the auditory nerves.
Perception
RHYTHM
Rhythm is an integral part of our perception of music. Rhythm is basically the time
element of music—how long each tone or “event” in a piece of music will last, when they
start or end, and how they relate or interact with each other chronologically.
A study conducted by Sakai et al. confirmed an earlier by Essens that rhythms
formed with small integer value ratios like 1:2:3 or 1:2:4 can be represented quite accurately,
while rhythms formed from ratios of larger values (1:5) or non-integer values (e.g. 1:2.5:3.5)
may be represented by test subjects inaccurately [4]. In their study, rhythms composed of
intervals whose ratios are simple integers (i.e. 1:2:3 or 1:2:4) or non-integers (1:2.5:3.5)
were played to volunteers, and they were asked to hold them in memory for about 10.8
seconds before reproducing the rhythm by pressing a button. Also, fMRI scans of their
brains were taken as they were made to reproduce a played rhythm under the condition that
all body movements except their button-pressing hands are suppressed.
Their results showed that rhythms whose intervals are in ratios of simple, small
integers like 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 were represented quite accurately, while the rhythm with
intervals in non-integer ratios—1:2.5:3.5—was represented quite inaccurately with the
intermediate interval 2.5 played out decidedly shorter (2.33) and the longest interval 3.5
played significant longer (3.69). Not only behaviourally, the different sets of rhythms also
showed different active brain regions in the fMRI scans. Both the reproduction of the 1:2:3
and 1:2:4 rhythms revealed consistent activations in the left premotor and parietal areas, but
the 1:2.5:3.5 showed completely different brain activation. The latter rhythm showed
activation in the right prefrontal, premotor and parietal areas [4]. Hence, the right
hemisphere was predominantly active for the 1:2.5:3.5 rhythm, while the left hemisphere
was more active during 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 rhythms. Additional activation was observed in the
cerebellum, which is known to coordinate body movements. During the more difficult
1:2.5:3.5 rhythm, the posterior lobe of the cerebellum was bilaterally active, while with the
easier 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 rhythms showed more activity in the right anterior cerebellar lobe [4].
Though the behavioral data was consistent with earlier observations about interval
ratio and the relative ease with which they can be represented, the fMRI scan revealed that
the neural representation of rhythm depends on the interval ratio. Rhythms comprised of
intervals in simple ratios were left-hemisphere dominated, and rhythms involving ratios that
include non-integers like 2.5 are predominantly right-hemisphere activated. This is probably
a consequence of the predictability of the rhythm and the general difference between what
sort of cognitive processing each hemisphere provides. The left hemisphere, which
dominates such areas like logic and language, is said to be predominant when dealing with
predictable, orderly environmental cues, while the right hemisphere, which has long been
associated with the more irrational areas of the arts, takes over when sudden unexpected
changes occur or when the external world does not lend itself to easy modeling and
prediction[]. 1:2:3 and 1:2:4 rhythms, which are commonly used in western music, would
have been predictable as we are generally used to them and hence under these rhythms out
left hemisphere would be predominantly active. The 1:2.5:3.5 rhythms, however, are more
difficult and less commonly seen than the simple-ratio rhythms and as such would invoke
greater activity in the right hemisphere.
It was also observed that the cerebellum and premotor cortex were involved in
tapping out the rhythm when all other body movements were suppressed. This may indicate
that perceiving or processing rhythm requires a representation involving body movement
(motor representation) although locomotion may not be necessarily involved. This can easily
be seen whenever we dance to a groove with a funky rhythm, or do a mosh pit to a rock
concert. Also, decidedly more areas of the brain, including the right prefrontal cortex lit up
during the 1:2.5:3.5 rhythm. This suggests that more difficult, non-metrical rhythms require
greater concentration and conscious effort to play out. As the prefrontal cortex is associated
with working memory, it may be that the test subjects relied more on their memories of the
played non-metrical rhythms to guide them since it was less familiar and conscious effort
was more required.
PITCH AND PITCH DISCRIMINATION
After rhythm come the different frequencies of sound comprising what we hear. Pitch
discrimination is very important to music perception, for it tells us which note is which and
how high or low it is compared to the notes played around it.
It was found out Zatorre et al. that pitch discrimination involved right hemisphere
mechanisms [5]. They tested volunteers who were made to press buttons upon hearing sets
of sounds or syllables during different test conditions, during which the positron emission
tomography (PET) was used to take images of their brain activity. These conditions were
noise, passive speech, phonetic and speech. In the “noise” condition, they were made to
press keys to alternate pairs of noise bursts, while in the “passive speech” condition they
were made to press keys to alternate pairs of syllables that were played. In the “phonetic”
condition, they pressed the key when the syllable pair ended with the same consonant
sound, while in the “pitch” condition, they only pressed the button when the hear that the
second syllable had a higher pitch than the first one.
The “noise” condition showed activation on both hemispheres at the primary auditory
cortex, approximately within the transverse gyri of Heschl (Brodmann Area number: BA 41).
Subtraction of these results from the “passive speech” results revealed bilateral activation
along the superior temporal gyrus (Right STG, BA 21/22 and Left STG, BA 22/42).
Subtraction of “passive sppech” from the results of the “phonetic” condition revealed largely
left-hemisphere lateralized activation maxing at the Broca’s area (BA 44/6). But with the
“pitch” condition, activation right inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45/46) and the Right middle frontal
gyrus (BA 9), both of which are found in the right prefrontal cortex [5].
Perceiving sound involves the primary auditory cortex which is located
approximately at Brodmann areas 41 and 42. This was revealed by the results of the “noise”
condition. Also, since no additional temporal cortex activity was observed for “phonetic” and
“pitch” condition results with respect to the “passive speech” condition results, it was
concluded that complete perceptual analysis occurs at the temporal lobe, somewhere along
the superior temporal gyrus. The primary auditory cortex is therefore responsible for early
analysis of auditory information and higher-order processing takes place on its associated
areas [5].
When made to discriminate between pitches, however, activity was observed in the
right prefrontal cortex, and thus it was concluded that “right-hemispheric mechanisms
appear to be crucial in making judgments related to pitch” [5]. Brodmann areas 45 and 46
together with Broca’s area, BA 44/45, comprise the inferior frontal gyrus. Since Broca’s area
is associated with the control of speech in humans, it may be that making judgments about
pitch invoke associations with the process of articulation. Also, since, as was noted earlier in
the section about rhythm, the prefrontal cortex is associated with working memory, the
activation may be an indication of actively comparing the two pitches that were stored in
short-term memory.
TONE AND TONALITY
A. Patel and E. Balaban have shown that temporal patterns of brain activity over
certain regions track the changes in tone in a series of notes [6]. The volunteers were made
to listen to 4 groups of tone sequences while the magnetoencephalography (MEG) was
used to track their neural activity. These for types of tone sequences were as follows: totally
random tone sequence, 2 types of “fractal” tone sequences whose tone variations resemble
more closely the tone variation found in real music, and an alternately rising and falling
musical scales. The tones used were the 25 even-tempered tones of the chromatic scale
between A3 (220Hz) and A5 (880Hz), each tone being a semitone apart. The subjects were
made to discriminate to which category amongst the 4 groups a particular tone sequence
belongs (They were exposed to sample tone sequences from each group in a brief training
session).
It was found out that the detrended phase vs. time plot followed closely the pitch
contour (the rise and fall of pitch along the tone sequence). Also, the correlation of the
phase-time plot with the stimulus tone sequence’s pitch contour increased with increasing
predictability of the tone sequence structure (predictability here was defined statistically in
the report). Activation was observed bilaterally, although there was a statistically denser
output from the right side of the brain. [6] Previous studies based on studies of metabolism
have implicated the right prefrontal cortex [6].
The left hemisphere and the right hemisphere both specialize. The left brain is said
to specialize in fishing out local-level details from the stimuli while the right brain specialize
in identifying the global or overall pattern [7]. Since both the left and right hemispheres were
active during the listening experiment, this indicates that the brain was trying to extract local
details from the tone sequence, that is details about the pitch of each tone and their
corresponding length intervals, while at the same time trying to recognize a global pattern,
(that is, in the terminology of music, identifying the melody). However, the perception that
something is melodious and or structured would require analyzing the pattern over a series
of notes, and hence right hemispheric activities were crucial to the categorization of the tone
sequence. In this light as well, we may be able to interpret the result about pitch
discrimination introduced earlier. Determining whether a pitch is higher than the one before
would demand the identification in the overall pattern of pitch change—is it rising or falling.
The left hemisphere could fish out details about each pitch but the right hemisphere is
required to make the comparison. The recognition of a melody would also require a working
memory for pitch to store information temporarily about them, so that may be one of the
reasons prefrontal cortex activity was observed. Hence the perceptual analysis carried out
by the temporal cortex would have to interact with the prefrontal cortex[10].
Cognition
Cognition about music is how a piece of music evokes emotions or how the brain
puts the processed information into a sort of structural grid with qualities or properties that
were not originally in the raw auditory input. Part of cognition is how the brain finds certain
sounds or combinations of them more pleasant or melodic, and also how it finds certain
vertical arrangement of pitches (scales) harmonious.
CONSONANCE, DISSONANCE and EMOTION
Music can and has been known to evoke powerful, stirring emotions. For example, a
melody played with a wrong note has been found out would cause infants to squirm and
adults, if they find the melody unpleasant, would have increased activity in the right medial
temporal cortex and the left posterior cingulate cortex [8]. The region right in front of the
posterior cingulated cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, has been known to act like an
alarm system that monitors whether environmental stimuli conflict with current internal goals
or whether everything is all right or not, and is involved in pain, conflict and distress
detection processes [9]. As such, dissonant chords or unpleasant melodies may invoke
unpleasant feelings.
Blood et al. scanned the cerebral blood flow with PET of test subjects as they were
made to listen to dissonant and consonant harmonies. Increasing dissonance was found out
to increase activity in the right parahippocampal gyrus and the precuneus regions while
increasing consonance (decreasing dissonance) showed an increase in activity in the
orbitofrontal, subcallosal cingulate, and frontal polar cortex. The increase and decrease of
each set of regions varied inversely with each other. It was also found out that the level of
dissonance the music played had was correlated with ratings of unpleasantness, but the
correlation between ratings of sadness/happiness with respect to the dissonance level didn’t
show much good correlation [10]. This may suggest that feelings of pleasantness or
unpleasantness may be associated with these brain regions. The parahippocampal gyrus,
which is known to have associations with the amygdala, may be heavily involved with
emotional processes [10]. The precuneus region (BA 7) has been associated with working
memory and emotion, and it was concluded that it was not necessarily involved in motional
processes [10]. Now, most of the regions mentioned are located around the limbic system,
which is very much involved with cognition, conation and emotion. So, the emotional content
of music may owe a lot to emotional processes happening on this region and the regions
around it. For example, the minor scale is said to sound sad and melancholic, while the
major scale is said to sound more jolly or lively. Both of these harmonies are highly
consonant and are used frequently in music. It may be that the emotions caused by these
musical structures are the results of processes in the limbic system.
Other than their emotional content, music is also known to memories and associated
meanings. Thus, the various connections between the regions of the brain would be
indispensible in the cognition of music.
AMUSIA & A WOMAN NAMED MONIKA
There is a rather interesting condition called amusia. Amusia is the inability to
perceive music. For example, in a case study, Peretz et al. studied a woman (given the alias
“Monika”) with congenital amusia. Congenital amusia means musical disability that cannot
be explained by brain damage, hearing loss or cognitive deficits [11]. Monika was found to
have excellent hearing, score above average in standard intelligence tests, and MRI scans
revealed no brain lesions or structural deficits in the brain. She also had a history with
music—once involved in a church choir and a high school band—though she admits that
she did them under social pressure [11]. She said that she doesn’t like listening to music, for
to her, it sounds like noise.
She was made to undergo a battery of tests to determine how well she does in
certain musical activities compared to other people who can normally perceive music. It was
found out that she had the inability to discriminate between melodies based on their global
contour (tone sequence pattern) and local interval pattern. She also had the inability to
distinguish between two tone sequences with slight differences in the rhythm (she scored at
the “same-different” test at chance level) [11]. She also had the inability to recognize a
wrong note that was played deliberately.
However, her ability to recognize voices, learn and listen to spoken (not sung) lyrics,
and distinguish environmental noises seems to be entirely intact. Also, she was able to
detect pitch changes if the difference between the two pitches was large (11 semitones, an
octave or more) and only if the pitch sequence was rising and not falling [11]. Now the fact
that her speech and listening abilities to spoken language are good while she can’t perceive
music at all is muddled even further by the fact that she was able to distinguish between two
sentences with different intonations with small pitch changes (3-11 semitones for rising
intonation, and 2-3 semitone fall for statements) [11]. She therefore seemed to have perfect
speech and listening abilities although she can’t perceive music.
It was pointed out that amusia may be a result of a faulty pitch-processing faculty
[11]. That is, her condition arises from her inability to recognize small, fine-grained changes
in pitch, which is common in music. As she did not have trouble with working memory, it may
be possible that the regions associated with pitch processing are at the crux of her condition.
Since her hearing was fine, the problem was probably not within the primary auditory cortex
but on the associated regions that deal with higher-order processing. That is, I hypothesize
that there may be something faulty with the way her superior temporal gyrus processes
information about pitch or the way it interacts with either the primary auditory cortex or the
working memory of the prefrontal cortex. Also, since recognizing differences in pitch
involves right hemispheric activities, it is possible that regions in her right hemisphere
cannot find global patterns in a sequence of tones. For it is the pattern that our brains create
about the details of sounds we hear that we perceive and recognize as music.

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