Mirror neuron activation of musicians and non-musicians in response to motion captured piano performances

Hou, Jiancheng; Rajmohan, Ravi; Fang, Dan; Kashfi, Karl; Al-Khalil, Kareem; Yang, James; Westney, William; Grund, Cynthia M.; O’Boyle, Michael W.

doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2017.04.001

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While experts exhibit stronger, although not statistically significant, alpha ERD than novices over frontocentral and occipital sites, no between-group differences were found in the beta-band. Alpha and beta activity have been used as indexes for the human mirror system activity 11,47,59 , which is known to support both action execution and action observation and its activity is modulated by an individual’s motor repertoire 60,61 . Therefore, a stronger alpha ERD would reflect the access to motor representations when observing well-known and practiced actions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The modulation of event-related alpha rhythm during the time course of anticipation

Simonet

Meziane

Runswick

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anticipation is the ability to accurately predict future actions or events ahead of the act itself. When attempting to anticipate, researchers have identified that at least two broad sources of information are used: contextual information relating to the situation in question; and biological motion from postural cues. However, the neural correlates associated with the processing of these different sources of information across groups varying in expertise has yet to be examined empirically. We compared anticipation performance and electrophysiological activity in groups of expert (n = 12) and novice (n = 15) performers using a video-based task. Participants made anticipation judgements after being presented information under three conditions: contextual information only; kinematic information only; and both sources of information combined. The experts responded more accurately across all three conditions. Stronger alpha event-related desynchronization over occipital and frontocentral sites occurred in experts compared to the novices when anticipating. The experts relied on stronger preparatory attentional mechanisms when they processed contextual information. When kinematic information was available, the domain specific motor representations built up over many years of practice likely underpinned expertise. Our findings have implications for those interested in identifying and subsequently, enhancing the neural mechanisms involved in anticipation.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The modulation of event-related alpha rhythm during the time course of anticipation

Simonet

Meziane

Runswick

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furukawa et al (2017) found that expert pianists demonstrated muscle-specific M1 excitability in response to listening to synthesized piano tones while non-musicians did not. Hou et al (2017) observed that brain regions believed to house mirror neurons showed significantly more activation for pianists than non-musicians in response to viewing motion capture piano performances. More generally, Halpern et al (2004) observed subthreshold activity in supplementary motor area (SMA) during timbre imagery tasks.…”

Section: Motor Imagerymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Theory of Instrument-Specific Absolute Pitch

Reymore

2020

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While absolute pitch (AP)-the ability to name musical pitches globally and without reference-is rare in expert musicians, anecdotal evidence suggests that some musicians may better identify pitches played on their primary instrument than pitches played on other instruments. We call this phenomenon "instrument-specific absolute pitch" (ISAP). In this paper we present a theory of ISAP. Specifically, we offer the hypothesis that some expert musicians without global AP may be able to more accurately identify pitches played on their primary instrument(s), and we propose timbral cues and articulatory motor imagery as two underlying mechanisms. Depending on whether informative timbral cues arise from performer-or instrument-specific idiosyncrasies or from timbre-facilitated tonotopic representations, we predict that performance may be enhanced for notes played by oneself, notes played on one's own personal instrument, and/or notes played on any exemplar of one's own instrument type. Sounds of one's primary instrument may moreover activate kinesthetic memory and motor imagery, aiding pitch identification. In order to demonstrate how our theory can be tested, we report the methodology and analysis of two exemplary experiments conducted on two case-study participants who are professional oboists. The aim of the first experiment was to determine whether the oboists demonstrated ISAP ability, while the purpose of the second experiment was to provide a preliminary investigation of the underlying mechanisms. The results of the first experiment revealed that only one of the two oboists showed an advantage for identifying oboe tones over piano tones. For this oboist demonstrating ISAP, the second experiment demonstrated that pitchnaming accuracy decreased and variance around the correct pitch value increased as an effect of transposition and motor interference, but not of instrument or performer. These preliminary data suggest that some musicians possess ISAP while others do not. Timbral cues and motor imagery may both play roles in the acquisition of this ability. Based on our case study findings, we provide methodological considerations and recommendations for future empirical testing of our theory of ISAP.

show abstract

“…A similar study by Bangert et al (2006) suggested that professional musicians have a greater understanding of the motor and auditory parts of piano playing, allowing them to still have significant understanding of the piano without either motor or auditory stimuli and supporting the idea that professional musicians would show more MNS activity with new music than would non-professionals. More data also support the fact that mirror neuron activation is modulated by musical expertise and that MNS activation in musicians may stem from imagining themselves playing the piece, so it is most likely stronger when they listen to music performed on their main instrument (Hou et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introduction Theoretical Background On the Mirror Neuron Systemmentioning

confidence: 61%

The Role of the Mirror System in Influencing Musicians’ Evaluation of Musical Creativity: A tDCS Study

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence reported in the literature suggests that the mirror system not only plays a role in recognizing motor action but also fosters a better understanding of other people because it helps an individual assume another’s perspective. This led to the idea, supported by research findings, that people with higher empathy scores should show higher activation of the mirror system. Recently, it has been hypothesized that a purely auditory mirror system exists. In this study, we aimed to explore the possibility that this system might play a particular role for musicians. Specifically, this system would impact their response to a new piece of music by using non-invasive brain stimulation to modulate the activation of the mirror system. A sample of 40 young musicians was involved in this study. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to a cathodal stimulation condition, while the other half was used as a control. After listening to a new piece of music, participants were asked to rate the creativity of the piece (by focusing on how interesting, innovative, and exciting the piece was) as well as their general emotional response to it. Their empathy levels were also assessed using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Results showed that the cathodal stimulation of the mirror system negatively affected both the perception of creativity (level of innovation) and the emotional response to the music. There was no significant difference in the ratings of how interesting the piece was perceived. The effect was mediated by the individuals’ level of empathy. Specifically, empathic concern and fantasy dimensions increased the evaluation of creativity. Results also showed that participants reported less emotion with a negative valence in the cathodal stimulation condition.

show abstract

Mirror neuron activation of musicians and non-musicians in response to motion captured piano performances

Cited by 16 publications

References 51 publications

The modulation of event-related alpha rhythm during the time course of anticipation

The modulation of event-related alpha rhythm during the time course of anticipation

A Theory of Instrument-Specific Absolute Pitch

The Role of the Mirror System in Influencing Musicians’ Evaluation of Musical Creativity: A tDCS Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About