Musical syntax is processed in Broca's area: an MEG study
Open accessAbstract
The present experiment was designed to localize the neural substrates that process music-syntactic incongruities, using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Electrically, such processing has been proposed to be indicated by early right-anterior negativity (ERAN), which is elicited by harmonically inappropriate chords occurring within a major-minor tonal context. In the present experiment, such chords elicited an early effect, taken as the magnetic equivalent of the ERAN (termed mERAN). The source of mERAN activity was localized in Broca's area and its right-hemisphere homologue, areas involved in syntactic analysis during auditory language comprehension. We find that these areas are also responsible for an analysis of incoming harmonic sequences, indicating that these regions process syntactic information that is less language-specific than previously believed.
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It is difficult to argue that the left inferior frontal gyrus supports general structural processing of complex stimuli that unfold over time.
“making it difficult to argue that this region supports general structural processing of complex stimuli that unfold over time (9, 20, 21).”
From Functional specificity for high-level linguistic processing in the human brain (2011) · cites this paper as [21]
The left inferior frontal gyrus language region of interest responds more strongly to intact than scrambled musical stimuli.
“Furthermore, although this region does respond more strongly to intact than scrambled musical stimuli (consistent with some previous claims) (21), the response to intact music is barely above the fixation baseline (and lower than the response to the language localizer control task)”
From Functional specificity for high-level linguistic processing in the human brain (2011) · cites this paper as [21]
The language contrast does not confound linguistic processing and general cognitive effort because the memory probe task is more difficult in the control (nonwords) condition.
“Furthermore, unlike the language contrasts used in some prior studies (17, 21), this contrast does not confound linguistic processing and general cognitive effort, because the memory probe task is more difficult in the control (nonwords) condition.”
From Functional specificity for high-level linguistic processing in the human brain (2011) · cites this paper as [21]
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References 50 · Cited by 968
- Authors
- Maess, B., Koelsch, S., Gunter, T. C., & Friederici, A. D.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Maess, Burkhard
- Venue
- Nature Neuroscience
- Published
- 2001-05
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 540-545
- ISSN
- 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-1726
- OpenAlex
- W1661750662
- Cited by
- 968
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 52 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 70 · 2018: 42 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 60 · 2014: 47 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 49
- FWCI
- 15.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Keywords
- musical syntax, Broca's area, Meran, auditory language comprehension, right hemisphere, syntactic analysis
- MeSH terms
- Acoustic Stimulation, Adult, Brain Mapping, Female, Frontal Lobe, Humans, Functional Laterality, Male, Mental Processes, Music, Magnetoencephalography
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