Cross-Modal Audiovisual Modulation of Corticospinal Motor Synergies in Professional Piano Players: A TMS Study during Motor Imagery.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to investigate corticospinal output changes in 10 professional piano players during motor imagery of triad chords in C major to be "mentally" performed with three fingers of the right hand (thumb, index, and little finger). Five triads were employed in the task; each composed by a stable 3rd interval (C4-E4) and a varying third note that could generate a 5th (G4), a 6th (A4), a 7th (B4), a 9th (D5), or a 10th (E5) interval. The 10th interval chord was thought to be impossible in actual execution for biomechanical reasons, as long as the thumb and the index finger remained fixed on the 3rd interval.

EEG Hyperconnectivity Study on Saxophone Quartet Playing in Ensemble.

A professional quartet of saxophonists playing in ensemble provides a perfect scenario to study the eventual occurrence of synchronous oscillatory brain activity across subjects. Here, we applied hyperscanning methodologies for simultaneously recordings of electroencephalographic (EEG) signals from four professional saxophonists while they observ an audiovideo recording of their own previous musical performance. An ad-hoc musical composition was written for the study.

The auditory scene: an fMRI study on melody and accompaniment in professional pianists.

The auditory scene is a mental representation of individual sounds extracted from the summed sound waveform reaching the ears of the listeners. Musical contexts represent particularly complex cases of auditory scenes. In such a scenario, melody may be seen as the main object moving on a background represented by the accompaniment.

Brains "in concert": frontal oscillatory alpha rhythms and empathy in professional musicians.

Playing music in ensemble represents a unique human condition/performance where musicians should rely on empathic relationships. Recent theories attribute to frontal Brodmann areas (BAs) 44/45 and 10/11 a neural basis for "emotional" and "cognitive" empathy. We hypothesized that activity of these structures reflects empathy trait in professional musicians playing in ensemble.

Neural language networks at birth.

The ability to learn language is a human trait. In adults and children, brain imaging studies have shown that auditory language activates a bilateral frontotemporal network with a left hemispheric dominance. It is an open question whether these activations represent the complete neural basis for language present at birth.

Simultaneous recording of electroencephalographic data in musicians playing in ensemble.

Here we describe a methodological approach for the simultaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) recording in musicians playing in ensemble. Four professional saxophonists wore pre-wired EEG caps (30 electrodes placed according to an augmented 10-20 system; cephalic reference and ground). Each cap was connected to a single multi-channel amplifier box [Brain Explorer (BE), EB-Neuro(©)].

Functional specializations for music processing in the human newborn brain.

In adults, specific neural systems with right-hemispheric weighting are necessary to process pitch, melody, and harmony as well as structure and meaning emerging from musical sequences. It is not known to what extent the specialization of these systems results from long-term exposure to music or from neurobiological constraints. One way to address this question is to examine how these systems function at birth, when auditory experience is minimal.