The early adolescent brain on music: analysis of functional dynamics reveals engagement of orbitofrontal cortex reward system

Abstract

Music listening plays a pivotal role for children and adolescents, yet surprisingly few neuroimaging studies have studied the underlying functional dynamics. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan 17 preadolescents aged 10-11 years old while listening to music. We subsequently tracked the occurrence of functional brain networks over time by using a recent method that detects recurrent BOLD phase-locking states: the Leading Eigenvector Dynamics Analysis (LEiDA). In particular, we compared the probabilities of occurrence and switching profiles of different patterns of BOLD phase-locking between music and no music. Moreover, we used an adapted version of the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ) to measure the music reward sensitivity of the participants. Our results showed significantly increased occurrence of a BOLD phase-locking pattern during music listening compared to no music, characterized by a phase-shift in the BOLD signals of the medial orbitofrontal and ventromedial prefrontal cortices -a brain subsystem associated to reward processing -from the rest of the brain. Moreover, we observed a significantly higher probability of switching to this pattern while listening to music. We also found a positive correlation between the individual musical reward sensitivity and the tendency to switch to this reward state during music.Our findings highlight the involvement of a brain subsystem involved in hedonic processing during music listening in the early adolescent brain. These results offer novel insight into the neural underpinnings of musical reward in early adolescence and may help us to understand the importance of music at this delicate age.

How music-induced emotions affect sexual attraction: evolutionary implications

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Mapping multi-modal dynamic network activity during naturalistic music listening

“…Music listening work has identified neural correlates linked to music’s acoustic properties (Alluri et al, 2012), structural properties including timing and error detection (Burunat et al, 2014; Koelsch et al, 2007; Toiviainen et al, 2020), reward (Salimpoor et al, 2006; Gold et al, 2019), and emotional regulation (Carlson et al, 2015). Links between brain and behaviour have been identified through liking and familiarity with recent studies examining network responses to listening to familiar and preferred vs unfamiliar music in adolescents (Fasano et al, 2020) and younger and older adults (Belden et al, 2023, Faber et al, 2023). Music has also been employed to study physiological cues (see Mojtabavi et al, 2020), emotional regulation (Baltazar & Saarikallio, 2019; Baltazar et al, 2019), and social interaction through dance (Carlson et al, 2018; Carlson et al, 2019).…”

Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study

“…In the present study, we chose to focus on the two interrelated cognitive constructs of WM and fluid intelligence because they are central for the development of self-regulation abilities during preadolescence, preparing for adolescence and adulthood. Preadolescence is a period characterized by specific evolutionary tasks and milestones necessary for development, and the inattention to needs in this age range can have consequences for the functioning of adolescents and adults ( Moore and Halle, 2001 ; Moore and Theokas, 2008 ; Fasano et al, 2019a ). Hence, preadolescence can be thought of as a pivotal stage to understand the development of WM and its role together with fluid intelligence in academic achievement and psychosocial adaptation and, thus, a sensitive period for prevention.…”