TY - JOUR
T1 - The song system of the human brain
AU - Brown, Steven
AU - Martinez, Michael J.
AU - Hodges, Donald A.
AU - Fox, Peter T.
AU - Parsons, Lawrence M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Tim Griffiths, Carol Krumhansl, Aniruddh Patel, Frederic Theunissen, Barbara Tillmann, and Patrick Wong for their insightful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by a grant from the ChevronTexaco Foundation.
PY - 2004/8
Y1 - 2004/8
N2 - Although sophisticated insights have been gained into the neurobiology of singing in songbirds, little comparable knowledge exists for humans, the most complex singers in nature. Human song complexity is evidenced by the capacity to generate both richly structured melodies and coordinated multi-part harmonizations. The present study aimed to elucidate this multi-faceted vocal system by using 15O-water positron emission tomography to scan "listen and respond" performances of amateur musicians either singing repetitions of novel melodies, singing harmonizations with novel melodies, or vocalizing monotonically. Overall, major blood flow increases were seen in the primary and secondary auditory cortices, primary motor cortex, frontal operculum, supplementary motor area, insula, posterior cerebellum, and basal ganglia. Melody repetition and harmonization produced highly similar patterns of activation. However, whereas all three tasks activated secondary auditory cortex (posterior Brodmann Area 22), only melody repetition and harmonization activated the planum polare (BA 38). This result implies that BA 38 is responsible for an even higher level of musical processing than BA 22. Finally, all three of these "listen and respond" tasks activated the frontal operculum (Broca's area), a region involved in cognitive/motor sequence production and imitation, thereby implicating it in musical imitation and vocal learning.
AB - Although sophisticated insights have been gained into the neurobiology of singing in songbirds, little comparable knowledge exists for humans, the most complex singers in nature. Human song complexity is evidenced by the capacity to generate both richly structured melodies and coordinated multi-part harmonizations. The present study aimed to elucidate this multi-faceted vocal system by using 15O-water positron emission tomography to scan "listen and respond" performances of amateur musicians either singing repetitions of novel melodies, singing harmonizations with novel melodies, or vocalizing monotonically. Overall, major blood flow increases were seen in the primary and secondary auditory cortices, primary motor cortex, frontal operculum, supplementary motor area, insula, posterior cerebellum, and basal ganglia. Melody repetition and harmonization produced highly similar patterns of activation. However, whereas all three tasks activated secondary auditory cortex (posterior Brodmann Area 22), only melody repetition and harmonization activated the planum polare (BA 38). This result implies that BA 38 is responsible for an even higher level of musical processing than BA 22. Finally, all three of these "listen and respond" tasks activated the frontal operculum (Broca's area), a region involved in cognitive/motor sequence production and imitation, thereby implicating it in musical imitation and vocal learning.
KW - Brain
KW - Cortex
KW - Harmony
KW - Melody
KW - Motor Systems and Sensorimotor Integration
KW - Music
KW - Singing
KW - Song system
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=3242698010&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=3242698010&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.03.016
DO - 10.1016/j.cogbrainres.2004.03.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 15268914
AN - SCOPUS:3242698010
SN - 0926-6410
VL - 20
SP - 363
EP - 375
JO - Cognitive Brain Research
JF - Cognitive Brain Research
IS - 3
ER -