Musical Reason

Archive for November, 2009

November 29th, 2009 6:11:02

[Dementia and music.]

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[Dementia and music.]

Neuropsychiatr. 2009;23(1):4-14

Authors: Kerer M, Marksteiner J, Hinterhuber H, Mazzola G, Steinberg R, Weiss EM

Patients suffering from dementia are nevertheless still able to render exceptional musical performances. For example, they can recognize music from childhood and reproduce lyrics and melodies of songs with four verses. Furthermore, behavioural symptoms such as psycho- motor agitation and crying, but also aggressive behaviour can be positively influenced by music and motivation and positive emotions can be increased. A variety of physiological and psychological changes occur when patients are listening to music. Previous research could show that music activated different parts of the brain especially in the temporal cortex, but also motoric areas in the frontal cortex, thalamus and cerebellum were essential for rhythm, melody and harmony perception and processing. Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals with various psychiatric or medical conditions. However, until now only little research has been directed towards non-pharmacological treatments like music therapy in dementia patients. Further research is warranted to investigate the long term influence of music therapy on patients suffering from dementia.

PMID: 19272287 [PubMed - in process]

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November 28th, 2009 10:11:59

Broca’s area in language, action, and music.

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Broca’s area in language, action, and music.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009 Jul;1169:448-58

Authors: Fadiga L, Craighero L, D’Ausilio A

The work of Paul Broca has been of pivotal importance in the localization of some higher cognitive brain functions. He first reported that lesions to the caudal part of the inferior frontal gyrus were associated with expressive deficits. Although most of his claims are still true today, the emergence of novel techniques as well as the use of comparative analyses prompts modern research for a revision of the role played by Broca’s area. Here we review current research showing that the inferior frontal gyrus and the ventral premotor cortex are activated for tasks other than language production. Specifically, a growing number of studies report the involvement of these two regions in language comprehension, action execution and observation, and music execution and listening. Recently, the critical involvement of the same areas in representing abstract hierarchical structures has also been demonstrated. Indeed, language, action, and music share a common syntactic-like structure. We propose that these areas are tuned to detect and represent complex hierarchical dependencies, regardless of modality and use. We speculate that this capacity evolved from motor and premotor functions associated with action execution and understanding, such as those characterizing the mirror-neuron system.

PMID: 19673823 [PubMed - in process]

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