That note sounds wrong! Age-related effects in processing of musical expectation

Abstract

Part of musical understanding and enjoyment stems from the ability to accurately predict what note (or one of a small set of notes) is likely to follow after hearing the first part of a melody. Selective violation of expectations can add to aesthetic response but radical or frequent violations are likely to be disliked or not comprehended. In this study we investigated whether a lifetime of exposure to music among untrained older adults would enhance their reaction to unexpected endings of unfamiliar melodies. Older and younger adults listened to melodies that had expected or unexpected ending notes, according to Western music theory. Ratings of goodness-of-fit were similar in the groups, as was ERP response to the note onset (N1). However, in later time windows (P200 and Late Positive Component), the amplitude of a response to unexpected and expected endings was both larger in older adults, corresponding to greater sensitivity, and more widespread in locus, consistent with a dedifferentiation pattern. Lateralization patterns also differed. We conclude that older adults refine their understanding of this important aspect of music throughout life, with the ability supported by changing patterns of neural activity.

Neurophysiological and Behavioral Differences between Older and Younger Adults When Processing Violations of Tonal Structure in Music

“…At the same time unexpected melodic terminations evoked ERAN- and P600-type responses in both age groups, consistent with the current findings (Halpern et al, 2017 ). Moreover, Halpern et al ( 2017 ) reported a general age effect across both expected and unexpected endings during the P600 time window, suggesting that older adults are deploying more controlled attentional resources to melodic processing. This could explain why, in the present study, the older adults were better able to detect out-of-key notes, without specific effects on the ERAN or P600.…”

“…Still, there were no group differences in the ERAN or P600 amplitude. A very recent study examined electrophysiological responses to the final note in a short melody that differed in terms of its musical expectancy (but was in-key) and found no differences between older and younger adults in their ratings (good—bad) of these melodies (Halpern et al, 2017 ). At the same time unexpected melodic terminations evoked ERAN- and P600-type responses in both age groups, consistent with the current findings (Halpern et al, 2017 ).…”

“…A very recent study examined electrophysiological responses to the final note in a short melody that differed in terms of its musical expectancy (but was in-key) and found no differences between older and younger adults in their ratings (good—bad) of these melodies (Halpern et al, 2017 ). At the same time unexpected melodic terminations evoked ERAN- and P600-type responses in both age groups, consistent with the current findings (Halpern et al, 2017 ). Moreover, Halpern et al ( 2017 ) reported a general age effect across both expected and unexpected endings during the P600 time window, suggesting that older adults are deploying more controlled attentional resources to melodic processing.…”

“…Only one study has investigated the P600 evoked by melodic expectancy in older adults. Halpern et al ( 2017 ) found that unexpected endings in melodies elicited a P600-type response of similar amplitude in younger and older adults over parietal sites, although the P600 was more broadly distributed over the scalp in older adults. The P600 component has also been measured in older adults in response to speech syntax violations (Kemmer et al, 2004 ; Steinhauer et al, 2010 ).…”

Investigating Age-Related Neural Compensation During Emotion Perception Using Electroencephalography

“…Other aging studies have also shown that older people tend to recruit more frontal cortical regions than younger people when performing identical cognitive tasks, especially effortful tasks [58,59]. This has been found in other brain imaging studies, including melodic expectancy processing [60], attention [61][62][63], working memory [64,65] and executive functioning [66]. Therefore, the neural overactivation in frontal-centro regions might reflect a top-down and controlled neural compensation to suppress or inhibit irrelevant information rather than emotion-specific neural compensation (e.g., [67]).…”