The perception of harmonic triads: an fMRI study

Abstract

We have undertaken an fMRI study of harmony perception in order to determine the relationship between the diatonic triads of Western harmony and brain activation. Subjects were 12 right-handed, male non-musicians. All stimuli consisted of two harmonic triads that did not contain dissonant intervals of 1 or 2 semitones, but differed between them by 0, ±1, ±2 or ±3 semitones and therefore differed in terms of their inherent stability (major and minor chords) or instability (diminished and augmented chords). These musical stimuli were chosen on the basis of a psychoacoustical model of triadic harmony that has previously been shown to explain the fundamental regularities of traditional harmony theory. The brain response to the chords could be distinguished within the right orbitofrontal cortex and cuneus/posterior cingulate gyrus. Moreover, the strongest hemodynamic responses were found for conditions of rising pitch leading from harmonic tension to modal resolution.

Corticostriatal Contributions to Musical Expectancy Perception

“…In addition to the GCM results, this view is supported by ERP studies finding an early MMN in temporal sites and a later ERAN in frontal sites (Garza Villarreal et al, 2011;Doeller et al, 2003). The posterior STG appears to be recruited for individual pitch processing and chord processing (Fujisawa & Cook, 2011;Klein & Zatorre, 2011) and simple pitch sequence processing in melody (Rogalsky et al, 2011;Stewart, Overath, Warren, Foxton, & Griffiths, 2008;Brattico, Tervaniemi, Näätänen, & Peretz, 2006;Patterson, Uppenkamp, Johnsrude, & Griffiths, 2002). Acquired musical perception deficits are associated with primarily posterior STG damage (Stewart, von Kriegstein, Warren, & Griffiths, 2006), and musical training is associated with changes in this region (Hyde et al, 2009).…”

Human Brain Basis of Musical Rhythm Perception: Common and Distinct Neural Substrates for Meter, Tempo, and Pattern

“…Musical experiences involve complicated interactions amongst a variety of cognitive, perceptual, affective, and motor processes. Recent neurological and neuroimaging data suggest that distinct neural systems subserve the melodic, harmonic, timbral, affective, and rhythmic aspects of music [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. However, a closer look at the structure of these musical elements reveals that the single element of rhythm is also not considered a singular unified component but a composite of temporal sub-elements which all contribute to the organization and perception of rhythm in music [14,15,16,17].…”

Analysis of psychoacoustic responses to digital music for enhancing autonomous creative systems

“…To understand the basis of human physical audition we consulted [3,41,42]. It can be learnt that harmonized fragments will undoubtedly provoke an emotional response closely related to the dominant note in the musical piece.…”