Modelling the perception of music in brain network dynamics

Abstract

We analyze the influence of music in a network of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with empirical structural connectivity measured in healthy human subjects. We report an increase of coherence between the global dynamics in our network and the input signal induced by a specific music song. We show that the level of coherence depends crucially on the frequency band. We compare our results with experimental data, which also describe global neural synchronization between different brain regions in the gamma-band range in a time-dependent manner correlated with musical large-scale form, showing increased synchronization just before transitions between different parts in a musical piece (musical high-level events). The results also suggest a separation in musical form-related brain synchronization between high brain frequencies, associated with neocortical activity, and low frequencies in the range of dance movements, associated with interactivity between cortical and subcortical regions.

Interplay of synchronization and cortical input in models of brain networks

“…These results are consistent with experiments [15,17] showing that music evokes some degree of synchrony in the human brain. In these works it has been shown that listening to music can have a remarkable effect on brain dynamics, inducing in particular a periodic alternation between synchronization and desynchronization.…”

“…Moreover, areas of the whole brain have been observed to be involved in neural dynamics during perception [6]. Recent studies report an increase of coherence between the global dynamics and the input signal induced by a specific music song using measured electroencephalogram (EEG) data [17]. Therefore, it is relevant to investigate the influence of sound on empirical brain networks in dependence of the auditory input region.…”

“…In the context of this work, we restrict ourselves to a minimal model without node-specific behavior to demonstrate the effects of a periodic perturbation [16]. More complex input using the transformation of sound into electrical neural signals via an elaborate cochlea model has been reported elsewhere [17]. Using networks of coupled neural oscillators, one can simulate synchronization phenomena observed in the human brain.…”

“…. , 90} was obtained from averaged diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging data [21] divided into 90 predefined regions according to the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas [32] as described in table 1, for previous use in simulations see [5,16,17,23]. Each node of the network corresponds to a brain region.…”

“…In a more detailed study of the perception of music in brain network dynamics using a cochlea model for the auditory input [17], the influence of real music in a simulated network of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with empirical structural connectivity has been investigated, and compared to measured EEG data. An increase of coherence between the global dynamics and the input signal induced by a specific music song has been found, depending sensitively on the frequency band.…”