Modulating short-term auditory memory with focal transcranial direct current stimulation applied to the supramarginal gyrus.

Previous studies have shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can affect performance by decreasing regional excitability in a brain region that contributes to the task of interest. To our knowledge, no research to date has found both enhancing and diminishing effects on performance, depending upon which polarity of the current is applied. The supramarginal gyrus (SMG) is an ideal brain region for testing tDCS effects because it is easy to identify using the 10-20 electroencephalography coordinate system, and results of neuroimaging studies have implicated the left SMG in short-term memory for phonological and nonphonological sounds.

Valproate reopens critical-period learning of absolute pitch.

Absolute pitch, the ability to identify or produce the pitch of a sound without a reference point, has a critical period, i.e., it can only be acquired early in life.

Non-invasive brain stimulation enhances the effects of melodic intonation therapy.

Research has suggested that a fronto-temporal network in the right hemisphere may be responsible for mediating melodic intonation therapy's (MIT) positive effects on speech recovery. We investigated the potential for a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), to augment the benefits of MIT in patients with non-fluent aphasia by modulating neural activity in the brain during treatment with MIT. The polarity of the current applied to the scalp determines the effects of tDCS on the underlying tissue: anodal-tDCS increases excitability, whereas cathodal tDCS decreases excitability.

Music to my eyes: cross-modal interactions in the perception of emotions in musical performance.

We investigate non-verbal communication through expressive body movement and musical sound, to reveal higher cognitive processes involved in the integration of emotion from multiple sensory modalities. Participants heard, saw, or both heard and saw recordings of a Stravinsky solo clarinet piece, performed with three distinct expressive styles: restrained, standard, and exaggerated intention. Participants used a 5-point Likert scale to rate each performance on 19 different emotional qualities.

Cross-modal influences of affect across social and non-social domains in individuals with Williams syndrome.

The Williams syndrome (WS) cognitive profile is characterized by relative strengths in face processing, an attentional bias towards social stimuli, and an increased affinity and emotional reactivity to music. An audio-visual integration study examined the effects of auditory emotion on visual (social/non-social) affect identification in individuals with WS and typically developing (TD) and developmentally delayed (DD) controls. The social bias in WS was hypothesized to manifest as an increased ability to process social than non-social affect, and a reduced auditory influence in social contexts.

Modulating activity in the motor cortex affects performance for the two hands differently depending upon which hemisphere is stimulated.

We modulated neural excitability in the human motor cortex to investigate behavioral effects for both hands. In a previous study, we showed that decreasing excitability in the dominant motor cortex led to a decline in performance for the contralateral hand and an improvement for the ipsilateral hand; increasing excitability produced the opposite effects. Research suggests that the ipsilateral effects were mediated by interhemispheric inhibition.

Dual-hemisphere tDCS facilitates greater improvements for healthy subjects' non-dominant hand compared to uni-hemisphere stimulation.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive technique that has been found to modulate the excitability of neurons in the brain. The polarity of the current applied to the scalp determines the effects of tDCS on the underlying tissue: anodal tDCS increases excitability, whereas cathodal tDCS decreases excitability. Research has shown that applying anodal tDCS to the non-dominant motor cortex can improve motor performance for the non-dominant hand, presumably by means of changes in synaptic plasticity between neurons.

Testing for causality with transcranial direct current stimulation: pitch memory and the left supramarginal gyrus.

Neuroimaging studies have implicated the left supramarginal gyrus in short-term auditory memory processing, including memory for pitch. The present study investigated the causal role of the left supramarginal gyrus in short-term pitch memory by comparing the effects of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation when applied over the left or right supramarginal gyrus with sham transcranial direct current stimulation. Only cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation over the left supramarginal gyrus had a detrimental effect on short-term pitch-memory performance in 11 adult participants.

Contralateral and ipsilateral motor effects after transcranial direct current stimulation.

Transcranial direct current stimulation over the left motor area influenced both contralateral and ipsilateral finger sequence movements in seven healthy adults. Effects for the two hands were reversed: anodal stimulation improved right-hand performance significantly more than cathodal stimulation, whereas cathodal stimulation improved left-hand performance significantly more than anodal stimulation. The results show that stimulating a motor region directly, or indirectly by modulating activity in the homologous region on the opposite hemisphere, can affect motor skill acquisition, presumably by facilitating effective synaptic connectivity.

Dimensions of emotion in expressive musical performance.

This paper explores the dimensions of emotion conveyed by music. Participants rated emotion terms after seeing and/or hearing recordings of clarinet performances that varied in expressive content. A factor analysis revealed four independent dimensions of emotion.

Cross-modal interactions in the perception of musical performance.

We investigate the dynamics of sensory integration for perceiving musical performance, a complex natural behavior. Thirty musically trained participants saw, heard, or both saw and heard, performances by two clarinetists. All participants used a sliding potentiometer to make continuous judgments of tension (a measure correlated with emotional response) and continuous judgments of phrasing (a measure correlated with perceived musical structure) as performances were presented.