Música, improvisación y cognición

In recent years, a growing number of neuropsychological studies began to address the task of empirically investigating different aspects of musical production and perception, investigating their effects at a behavioral or neuroanatomical and functional level. The objective of this review is to present the antecedents that deal with the subject of music as a cognitive domain, subsequently focusing on a type of musical experience: musical improvisation.En los últimos años un número creciente de estudios neuropsicológicos comenzaron a abordar la tarea de investigar empíricamente diferentes aspectos de la producción y la percepción musical, indagando sus efecto a nivel comportamental o neuroanatómico y funcional. El objetivo de la presente revisión es presentar los antecedentes que tratan el tema de la música como dominio cognitivo, focalizándonos posteriormente en un tipo de experiencia musical: la improvisación musical.&nbsp

Music, improvisation and cognition: a brief descriptive review

En los últimos años un número creciente de estudios neuropsicológicos comenzaron a abordar la tarea de investigar empíricamente diferentes aspectos de la producción y la percepción musical, indagando sus efecto a nivel comportamental o neuroanatómico y funcional. El objetivo de la presente revisión es presentar los antecedentes que tratan el tema de la música como dominio cognitivo, focalizándonos posteriormente en un tipo de experiencia musical: la improvisación musical.In recent years, a growing number of neuropsychological studies began to address the task of empirically investigating different aspects of musical production and perception, investigating their effects at a behavioral or neuroanatomical and functional level. The objective of this review is to present the antecedents that deal with the subject of music as a cognitive domain, subsequently focusing on a type of musical experience: musical improvisation.Cátedra Libre Musicoterapi

Can a rhythmic intervention support reading development in poor readers?

There is increasing interest in the wider benefits of music in relation to reading, although relatively little evidence relating to the role that music might play in developing literacy skills in those experiencing difficulties. The research reported here explores the impact of a rhythmic intervention involving clapping, stamping, and chanting to music while following notation on a chart. The intervention took place for 10 minutes each week over a 10-week period with groups of 10 children, who had lower than average reading scores. The children were in the first year of secondary school (11–12 years old). The NARA II test was selected to assess reading accuracy, comprehension, and reading rate before and after the intervention with alternative forms of the test being used. Pupils (N = 354) attending six secondary schools in the UK participated and were randomly allocated to control (174) and intervention groups (180). Multivariate analysis of variance of change scores across the period of the intervention revealed statistically significant differences between control and intervention groups in reading accuracy (p = .014) and comprehension (p = .001) but not in reading rate. The differences in reading accuracy were equivalent to 1.38 standardized scores and reading comprehension, 2.33 standardized scores

The Neuroscience of Musical Improvisation

Researchers have recently begun to examine the neural basis of musical improvisation, one of the most complex forms of creative behavior. The emerging field of improvisation neuroscience has implications not only for the study of artistic expertise, but also for understanding the neural underpinnings of domain-general processes such as motor control and language production. This review synthesizes functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) studies of musical improvisation, including vocal and instrumental improvisation, with samples of jazz pianists, classical musicians, freestyle rap artists, and non-musicians. A network of prefrontal brain regions commonly linked to improvisatory behavior is highlighted, including the pre-supplementary motor area, medial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal premotor cortex. Activation of premotor and lateral prefrontal regions suggests that a seemingly unconstrained behavior may actually benefit from motor planning and cognitive control. Yet activation of cortical midline regions points to a role of spontaneous cognition characteristic of the default network. Together, such results may reflect cooperation between large-scale brain networks associated with cognitive control and spontaneous thought. The improvisation literature is integrated with Pressing’s theoretical model, and discussed within the broader context of research on the brain basis of creative cognition

Investigating the Role of the Primary Motor Cortex in Musical Creativity: A Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Study

Neuroscientific research has revealed interconnected brain networks implicated in musical creativity, such as the executive control network, the default mode network, and premotor cortices. The present study employed brain stimulation to evaluate the role of the primary motor cortex (M1) in creative and technically fluent jazz piano improvisations. We implemented transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to alter the neural activation patterns of the left hemispheric M1 whilst pianists performed improvisations with their right hand. Two groups of expert jazz pianists (n = 8 per group) performed five improvisations in each of two blocks. In Block 1, they improvised in the absence of brain stimulation. In Block 2, one group received inhibitory tDCS and the second group received excitatory tDCS while performing five new improvisations. Three independent expert-musicians judged the 160 performances on creativity and technical fluency using a 10-point Likert scale. As the M1 is involved in the acquisition and consolidation of motor skills and the control of hand orientation and velocity, we predicted that excitatory tDCS would increase the quality of improvisations relative to inhibitory tDCS. Indeed, improvisations under conditions of excitatory tDCS were rated as significantly more creative than those under conditions of inhibitory tDCS. A music analysis indicated that excitatory tDCS elicited improvisations with greater pitch range and number/variety of notes. Ratings of technical fluency did not differ significantly between tDCS groups. We discuss plausible mechanisms by which the M1 region contributes to musical creativity

The neuroscience of musical improvisation

Abstract: Researchers have recently begun to examine the neural basis of musical improvisation, one of the most complex forms of creative behavior. The emerging field of improvisation neuroscience has implications not only for the study of artistic expertise, but also for understanding the neural underpinnings of domain-general processes such as motor control and language production. This review synthesizes functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI) studies of musical improvisation, including vocal and instrumental improvisation, with samples of jazz pianists, classical musicians, freestyle rap artists, and non-musicians. A network of prefrontal brain regions commonly linked to improvisatory behavior is highlighted, including the presupplementary motor area, medial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and dorsal premotor cortex. Activation of premotor and lateral prefrontal regions suggests that a seemingly unconstrained behavior may actually benefit from motor planning and cognitive control. Yet activation of cortical midline regions points to a role of spontaneous cognition characteristic of the default network. Together, such results may reflect cooperation between large-scale brain networks associated with cognitive control and spontaneous thought. The improvisation literature is integrated with Pressing's theoretical model, and discussed within the broader context of research on the brain basis of creative cognition

Observing plasticity of the auditory system: Volumetric decreases along with increased functional connectivity in aspiring professional musicians

Playing music relies on several sensory systems and the motor system, and poses strong demands on control processes, hence, offering an excellent model to study how experience can mold brain structure and function. Although most studies on neural correlates of music expertise rely on cross-sectional comparisons, here we compared within-person changes over time in aspiring professionals intensely preparing for an entrance exam at a University of the Arts to skilled amateur musicians not preparing for a music exam. In the group of aspiring professionals, we observed gray-matter volume decrements in left planum polare, posterior insula, and left inferior frontal orbital gyrus over a period of about 6 months that were absent among the amateur musicians. At the same time, the left planum polare, the largest cluster of structural change, showed increasing functional connectivity with left and right auditory cortex, left precentral gyrus, left supplementary motor cortex, left and right postcentral gyrus, and left cingulate cortex, all regions previously identified to relate to music expertise. In line with the expansion–renormalization pattern of brain plasticity (Wenger et al., 2017a. Expansion and renormalization of human brain structure during skill acquisition. Trends Cogn Sci. 21:930–939.), the aspiring professionals might have been in the selection and refinement period of plastic change

¿Cómo y hasta qué punto la improvisación musical influye en el desarrollo de pensamiento divergente? : análisis psicofisiológico

. Divergent thinking is understood as a necessary skill to create different and diverse solutions with limited resources and a line of origin. On the other hand, musical improvisation is considered a complex cognitive activity that requires the interconnection of several neural circuits. Among which is the ability to create and execute simultaneously.... El pensamiento divergente se entiende como una habilidad necesaria para crear soluciones distintas y diversas con recursos limitados y una línea de origen. Por otro lado, la improvisación musical se considera una actividad cognitiva compleja que requiere de la interconexión de varios circuitos neuronales. Dentro de los cuales se encuentra la capacidad de creación y ejecución simultánea..

Music in the brain

Music is ubiquitous across human cultures — as a source of affective and pleasurable experience, moving us both physically and emotionally — and learning to play music shapes both brain structure and brain function. Music processing in the brain — namely, the perception of melody, harmony and rhythm — has traditionally been studied as an auditory phenomenon using passive listening paradigms. However, when listening to music, we actively generate predictions about what is likely to happen next. This enactive aspect has led to a more comprehensive understanding of music processing involving brain structures implicated in action, emotion and learning. Here we review the cognitive neuroscience literature of music perception. We show that music perception, action, emotion and learning all rest on the human brain’s fundamental capacity for prediction — as formulated by the predictive coding of music model. This Review elucidates how this formulation of music perception and expertise in individuals can be extended to account for the dynamics and underlying brain mechanisms of collective music making. This in turn has important implications for human creativity as evinced by music improvisation. These recent advances shed new light on what makes music meaningful from a neuroscientific perspective