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Tillmann B, Graves JE, Talamini F, Lévêque Y, Fornoni L, Hoarau C, Pralus A, Ginzburg J, Albouy P, Caclin A. Auditory cortex and beyond: Deficits in congenital amusia. Hear Res 2023; 437:108855. [PMID: 37572645 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2023.108855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/14/2023]
Abstract
Congenital amusia is a neuro-developmental disorder of music perception and production, with the observed deficits contrasting with the sophisticated music processing reported for the general population. Musical deficits within amusia have been hypothesized to arise from altered pitch processing, with impairments in pitch discrimination and, notably, short-term memory. We here review research investigating its behavioral and neural correlates, in particular the impairments at encoding, retention, and recollection of pitch information, as well as how these impairments extend to the processing of pitch cues in speech and emotion. The impairments have been related to altered brain responses in a distributed fronto-temporal network, which can be observed also at rest. Neuroimaging studies revealed changes in connectivity patterns within this network and beyond, shedding light on the brain dynamics underlying auditory cognition. Interestingly, some studies revealed spared implicit pitch processing in congenital amusia, showing the power of implicit cognition in the music domain. Building on these findings, together with audiovisual integration and other beneficial mechanisms, we outline perspectives for training and rehabilitation and the future directions of this research domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Tillmann
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France; Laboratory for Research on Learning and Development, Université de Bourgogne, LEAD - CNRS UMR5022, Dijon, France; LEAD-CNRS UMR5022; Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté; Pôle AAFE; 11 Esplanade Erasme; 21000 Dijon, France.
| | - Jackson E Graves
- Laboratoire des systèmes perceptifs, Département d'études cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, Paris 75005, France
| | | | - Yohana Lévêque
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France
| | - Lesly Fornoni
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France
| | - Caliani Hoarau
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France
| | - Agathe Pralus
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France
| | - Jérémie Ginzburg
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France
| | - Philippe Albouy
- CERVO Brain Research Center, School of Psychology, Laval University, Québec, G1J 2G3; International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), CRBLM, Montreal QC, H2V 2J2, Canada
| | - Anne Caclin
- CNRS, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR5292, U1028, F-69500, Bron, France.
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Jiang J, Liu F, Zhou L, Chen L, Jiang C. Explicit processing of melodic structure in congenital amusia can be improved by redescription-associate learning. Neuropsychologia 2023; 182:108521. [PMID: 36870471 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Revised: 02/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Congenital amusia is a neurodevelopmental disorder of musical processing. Previous research demonstrates that although explicit musical processing is impaired in congenital amusia, implicit musical processing can be intact. However, little is known about whether implicit knowledge could improve explicit musical processing in individuals with congenital amusia. To this end, we developed a training method utilizing redescription-associate learning, aiming at transferring implicit representations of perceptual states into explicit forms through verbal description and then establishing the associations between the perceptual states reported and responses via feedback, to investigate whether the explicit processing of melodic structure could be improved in individuals with congenital amusia. Sixteen amusics and 11 controls rated the degree of expectedness of melodies during EEG recording before and after training. In the interim, half of the amusics received nine training sessions on melodic structure, while the other half received no training. Results, based on effect size estimation, showed that at pretest, amusics but not controls failed to explicitly distinguish the regular from the irregular melodies and to exhibit an ERAN in response to the irregular endings. At posttest, trained but not untrained amusics performed as well as controls at both the behavioral and neural levels. At the 3-month follow-up, the training effects still maintained. These findings present novel electrophysiological evidence of neural plasticity in the amusic brain, suggesting that redescription-associate learning may be an effective method to remediate impaired explicit processes for individuals with other neurodevelopmental disorders who have intact implicit knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Jiang
- Music College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China
| | - Fang Liu
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK
| | - Linshu Zhou
- Music College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China
| | - Liaoliao Chen
- Foreign Languages College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China
| | - Cunmei Jiang
- Music College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China.
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Couvignou M, Kolinsky R. Comorbidity and cognitive overlap between developmental dyslexia and congenital amusia in children. Neuropsychologia 2021; 155:107811. [PMID: 33647287 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Developmental dyslexia and congenital amusia are two specific neurodevelopmental disorders that affect reading and music perception, respectively. Similarities at perceptual, cognitive, and anatomical levels raise the possibility that a common factor is at play in their emergence, albeit in different domains. However, little consideration has been given to what extent they can co-occur. A first adult study suggested a 30% amusia rate in dyslexia and a 25% dyslexia rate in amusia (Couvignou et al., Cognitive Neuropsychology 2019). We present newly acquired data from 38 dyslexic and 38 typically developing children. These were assessed with literacy and phonological tests, as well as with three musical tests: the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Musical Abilities, a pitch and time change detection task, and a singing task. Overall, about 34% of the dyslexic children were musically impaired, a proportion that is significantly higher than both the estimated 1.5-4% prevalence of congenital amusia in the general population and the rate of 5% observed within the control group. They were mostly affected in the pitch dimension, both in terms of perception and production. Correlations and prediction links were found between pitch processing skills and language measures after partialing out confounding factors. These findings are discussed with regard to cognitive and neural explanatory hypotheses of a comorbidity between dyslexia and amusia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manon Couvignou
- Unité de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives (Unescog), Center for Research in Cognition & Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium.
| | - Régine Kolinsky
- Unité de Recherche en Neurosciences Cognitives (Unescog), Center for Research in Cognition & Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium; Fonds de La Recherche Scientifique-FNRS (FRS-FNRS), Brussels, Belgium
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Jasmin K, Dick F, Stewart L, Tierney AT. Altered functional connectivity during speech perception in congenital amusia. eLife 2020; 9:e53539. [PMID: 32762842 PMCID: PMC7449693 DOI: 10.7554/elife.53539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2019] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with congenital amusia have a lifelong history of unreliable pitch processing. Accordingly, they downweight pitch cues during speech perception and instead rely on other dimensions such as duration. We investigated the neural basis for this strategy. During fMRI, individuals with amusia (N = 15) and controls (N = 15) read sentences where a comma indicated a grammatical phrase boundary. They then heard two sentences spoken that differed only in pitch and/or duration cues and selected the best match for the written sentence. Prominent reductions in functional connectivity were detected in the amusia group between left prefrontal language-related regions and right hemisphere pitch-related regions, which reflected the between-group differences in cue weights in the same groups of listeners. Connectivity differences between these regions were not present during a control task. Our results indicate that the reliability of perceptual dimensions is linked with functional connectivity between frontal and perceptual regions and suggest a compensatory mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyle Jasmin
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Frederic Dick
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Lauren Stewart
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Adam Taylor Tierney
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck University of LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
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Kachlicka M, Saito K, Tierney A. Successful second language learning is tied to robust domain-general auditory processing and stable neural representation of sound. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2019; 192:15-24. [PMID: 30831377 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2019] [Revised: 02/20/2019] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
There is a great deal of individual variability in outcome in second language learning, the sources of which are still poorly understood. We hypothesized that individual differences in auditory processing may account for some variability in second language learning. We tested this hypothesis by examining psychoacoustic thresholds, auditory-motor temporal integration, and auditory neural encoding in adult native Polish speakers living in the UK. We found that precise English vowel perception and accurate English grammatical judgment were linked to lower psychoacoustic thresholds, better auditory-motor integration, and more consistent frequency-following responses to sound. Psychoacoustic thresholds and neural sound encoding explained independent variance in vowel perception, suggesting that they are dissociable indexes of sound processing. These results suggest that individual differences in second language acquisition success stem at least in part from domain-general difficulties with auditory perception, and that auditory training could help facilitate language learning in some individuals with specific auditory impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Kachlicka
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom; Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Kazuya Saito
- Institute of Education, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Adam Tierney
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, United Kingdom.
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The co-occurrence of pitch and rhythm disorders in congenital amusia. Cortex 2019; 113:229-238. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.11.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2018] [Revised: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Hsieh IH, Chen SC, Liu JW. Binaural localization of musical pitch using interaural time differences in congenital amusia. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204397. [PMID: 30240453 PMCID: PMC6150538 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Naturally occurring sounds are routinely periodic. The ability to phase-lock to such periodicity facilitates pitch perception and interaural time differences (ITDs) determination in binaural localization. We examined whether deficient pitch processing in individuals with congenital amusia (tone deafness) is accompanied by impaired ability to lateralize musical pitch at auditory periphery and memorize the location of pitch at the working memory level. If common mechanisms subserve processing of temporal-fine-structure based pitch and ITDs, then deficient processing of one feature should impair performance on the other. Thus, we measured ITD discrimination thresholds using an adaptive-tracking procedure for lateralizing musical tone pairs separated by different semitone intervals. Amusic individuals exhibited normal ITD thresholds comparable to those of matched controls, which were not affected by concurrent pitch changes. For working memory tasks, the amusic group performed significantly worse than matched controls in probed pitch recall, irrespective of the complexity level of concurrent variations along the ITD dimension of the melodic sequence. Interestingly, despite normal peripheral ITD thresholds, amusic individuals performed worse than controls in recalling probed locations of tones within a sequence of musical notes originating from different ITD-simulated locations. Findings suggest that individuals with congenital amusia are unimpaired in temporal fine-structure encoding to determine the location of musical pitch based on binaural ITD information at the auditory periphery. However, working memory for a sequence of sounds' ITD-dependent spatial location is here shown to be impaired and dissociated from the pitch feature of sounds at the working memory level.
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Affiliation(s)
- I-Hui Hsieh
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Jhongli County, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
| | - Ssc-Chen Chen
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Jhongli County, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
| | - Jia-Wei Liu
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University, Jhongli County, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
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Särkämö T, Sihvonen AJ. Golden oldies and silver brains: Deficits, preservation, learning, and rehabilitation effects of music in ageing-related neurological disorders. Cortex 2018; 109:104-123. [PMID: 30312779 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2018.08.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Revised: 06/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
During the last decades, there have been major advances in mapping the brain regions that underlie our ability to perceive, experience, and produce music and how musical training can shape the structure and function of the brain. This progress has fueled and renewed clinical interest towards uncovering the neural basis for the impaired or preserved processing of music in different neurological disorders and how music-based interventions can be used in their rehabilitation and care. This article reviews our contribution to and the state-of-the-art of this field. We will provide a short overview outlining the key brain networks that participate in the processing of music and singing in the healthy brain and then present recent findings on the following key music-related research topics in neurological disorders: (i) the neural architecture underlying deficient processing of music (amusia), (ii) the preservation of singing in aphasia and music-evoked emotions and memories in Alzheimer's disease, (iii) the mnemonic impact of songs as a verbal learning tool, and (iv) the cognitive, emotional, and neural efficacy of music-based interventions and activities in the rehabilitation and care of major ageing-related neurological illnesses (stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease).
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Affiliation(s)
- Teppo Särkämö
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Aleksi J Sihvonen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Finland; Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Finland
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