Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis Memphis, TN, USA ; School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis Memphis, TN, USA.
Front Psychol. 2013 May 13;4:264. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00264. eCollection 2013.
Neuroimaging work has shed light on the cerebral architecture involved in processing the melodic and harmonic aspects of music. Here, recent evidence is reviewed illustrating that subcortical auditory structures contribute to the early formation and processing of musically relevant pitch. Electrophysiological recordings from the human brainstem and population responses from the auditory nerve reveal that nascent features of tonal music (e.g., consonance/dissonance, pitch salience, harmonic sonority) are evident at early, subcortical levels of the auditory pathway. The salience and harmonicity of brainstem activity is strongly correlated with listeners' perceptual preferences and perceived consonance for the tonal relationships of music. Moreover, the hierarchical ordering of pitch intervals/chords described by the Western music practice and their perceptual consonance is well-predicted by the salience with which pitch combinations are encoded in subcortical auditory structures. While the neural correlates of consonance can be tuned and exaggerated with musical training, they persist even in the absence of musicianship or long-term enculturation. As such, it is posited that the structural foundations of musical pitch might result from innate processing performed by the central auditory system. A neurobiological predisposition for consonant, pleasant sounding pitch relationships may be one reason why these pitch combinations have been favored by composers and listeners for centuries. It is suggested that important perceptual dimensions of music emerge well before the auditory signal reaches cerebral cortex and prior to attentional engagement. While cortical mechanisms are no doubt critical to the perception, production, and enjoyment of music, the contribution of subcortical structures implicates a more integrated, hierarchically organized network underlying music processing within the brain.
神经影像学的研究揭示了大脑中与处理音乐旋律和和声方面相关的结构。本文综述了近期的证据，这些证据表明，皮质下听觉结构有助于音乐相关音高的早期形成和处理。来自人类脑干的电生理记录和来自听神经的群体反应表明，调性音乐的初始特征（如和谐/不和谐、音高显著性、和声的和谐性）在听觉通路的早期皮质下水平就很明显。脑干活动的显著性和和谐性与听众对音乐调性关系的感知偏好和感知和谐性密切相关。此外，西方音乐实践所描述的音高间隔/和弦的层次结构及其感知和谐性与音高组合在皮质下听觉结构中的编码显著性很好地相关。虽然和谐的神经相关性可以通过音乐训练来调整和夸大，但即使在缺乏音乐才能或长期文化熏陶的情况下，它们仍然存在。因此，人们提出，音乐音高的结构基础可能来自于中枢听觉系统的先天处理。对和谐、悦耳的音高关系的神经生物学倾向可能是这些音高组合在几个世纪以来一直受到作曲家和听众青睐的原因之一。本文认为，音乐的重要感知维度在听觉信号到达大脑皮层之前，在注意力参与之前就已经出现了。虽然皮质机制无疑对音乐的感知、产生和享受至关重要，但皮质下结构的贡献表明，在大脑中，音乐处理是一个更加整合、层次化的网络。
