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A NEW STUDY by researchers at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., suggests that recalling that melody is the job of a part of the brain known as the rostromedial prefrontal cortex. It is the part that remembers music and is even able to recognize a sour note in the midst of a familiar tune. A team led by researcher Petr Janata of Dartmouth's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience explored the mind's memory for tunes by studying the brains of eight musicians as they listened to a bit of original music.

Score used in image: "J.S. Bach, Inventionen, Sinfonien," copyright 1978 by G. Henle Verlag, Muenchen, used by permission.

SCANNER IDENTIFIES BRAIN AREA
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which detects the part of the brain active in response to specific stimuli, they found that the ability to recognize music is contained in a centrally located area just behind the forehead. Janata said that part of the brain also plays a key role in learning and in the response and control of emotions.

“Our results provide a stronger foundation for explaining the link between music, emotion and the brain,” Janata said. In the study, published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science, eight people who had studied music for at least 12 years listened to the music and were asked to pick out specific tones and to detect notes played by a flutelike instrument instead of a clarinet which had dominated the music. As they performed these tasks, the functional MRI tracked which parts of the brain were active.

The researchers reported that the brains of each of the subjects tracked the sounds in a slightly different way each time the music was played. This may be the reason the same music, in different times, may prompt different emotions. Janata said the fact that the brain is naturally wired to appreciate and remember music suggests that the pleasant sounds were an important part of the human mind from the earliest of times. “It’s not necessary for human survival, yet something inside us craves it,” said Janata. “I think this research helps us understand that craving a little bit more.”

Functional brain imaging helps scientists understand the relationship between particular types of mental activity and particular areas of the brain, by charting which regions experience increased blood flow or metabolism or electromagnetic activity over time. It’s a step beyond CT scans, or CAT scans, which can map the brain’s structure but not its functions. Click on the labels above to learn more about three technologies used for functional brain imaging. Positron emission tomography Radioactive tracers are injected into the circulatory system and concentrate in the areas of the brain where blood flow and metabolism are most active. When the radioactive material breaks down, it gives off a neutron and a positron. When the positron collides with an electron, both are destroyed and gamma rays are released. Detectors record the brain area where the gamma rays are emitted, providing a map of brain activity. PET scans can show quick changes in activity, but the machines are bulky and expensive. More information from Encarta: “Radiology”

Functional magnetic resonance imaging: MRI scanners detect the radio frequency signals produced by displaced radio waves in a magnetic field. Functional brain MRI scans can see the indirect effects of neural activity on blood volume, flow and oxygen consumption. The result is a map of the brain’s anatomy that can also point to changes in brain activity. Unlike PET scans, fMRI readings don’t require the injection of radioactive tracers. However, as with PET scans, the subject must lie still within a large, expensive machine. More information from Encarta: “Magnetic Resonance Imaging”

Electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography The subject wears a “hairnet” of sensors that pick up electrical or magnetic impulses given off by brain waves in the cerebral cortex. Those impulses are charted over time, and a computer analysis can produce a changing two-dimensional map of cortical activity. The apparatus is less expensive and more portable than the machines used for PET or MRI scans, but the readings cannot measure activity or structure beyond the cerebral cortex. Thus, EEG or MEG is often combined with other methods. More information from Macalester: “What Is Electroencephalography?”

Copyright, River Arts, 2003. Last Updated: May 23,2007