Neurophysiology Research

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Research Article - Neurophysiology Research (2018) Volume 0, Issue 0

Brain processing and coding responses to musical expertise: An EEG study.

Introduction: The neuroscience of music is the scientific study of brain-based mechanisms involved in the cognitive processes underlying music. Art is a product of human creativity. It is a superior skill that can be learned by study, practice and observation. The connection between brain and music is robust and bidirectional. Objectives: To understand the changes in cerebral activity produced by learning part of musical theory - the melodic intervals. Methods: Fifteen non-musicians, without any academic theoretical musical knowledge and, mean ages of 20.40 ± 1.96 years, were selected to participate voluntarily in this observational and prospective study. Using the electroencephalogram (EEG) as the acquiring method, cerebral activity was analyzed at two different moments, baseline and after a 5 day training period. The EEG task corresponded to recognize and identify the melodic intervals in display. Results: Behavioral responses exposed an improvement on reaction time factor and accuracy for the second exam answers of 49.83 ± 9.72 and 3.01 ± 1.53 seconds respectively, against the 40.67 ± 9.24 and 4.29 ± 1.98 seconds of the first evaluation. EEG frequencies outcomes have been underlined in alpha, beta and gamma absolute power frequency bands and in alpha-frequency relative band of power when basal and after-training replies were compared. The results shown a bilateral collaboration of the different regions of the brain and both cerebral hemispheres in physiological functions related with the learning process of music. Conclusions: Cerebral activation, activity and frequencies in non-musicians which have acquired some theoretical musical knowledge exhibit visible differences in-between evaluations. The human brain is very complex in the way it perceives information that it receives through sensory input. The two cerebral hemispheres perform distinct, however in harmony, functions.

Author(s): Vitória Silva, Telmo Pereira*, Jorge Conde

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