Neural Correlates of Familiarity in Music Listening: A Systematic Review and a Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis

Familiarity in music has been reported as an important factor modulating emotional and hedonic responses in the brain. Familiarity and repetition may increase the liking of a piece of music, thus inducing positive emotions. Neuroimaging studies have focused on identifying the brain regions involved in the processing of familiar and unfamiliar musical stimuli. However, the use of different modalities and experimental designs has led to discrepant results and it is not clear which areas of the brain are most reliably engaged when listening to familiar and unfamiliar musical excerpts. In the present study, we conducted a systematic review from three databases (Medline, PsychoINFO, and Embase) using the keywords (recognition OR familiar OR familiarity OR exposure effect OR repetition) AND (music OR song) AND (brain OR brains OR neuroimaging OR functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging OR Position Emission Tomography OR Electroencephalography OR Event Related Potential OR Magnetoencephalography). Of the 704 titles identified, 23 neuroimaging studies met our inclusion criteria for the systematic review. After removing studies providing insufficient information or contrasts, 11 studies (involving 212 participants) qualified for the meta-analysis using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. Our results did not find significant peak activations consistently across included studies. Using a less conservative approach (p < 0.001, uncorrected for multiple comparisons) we found that the left superior frontal gyrus, the ventral lateral (VL) nucleus of the left thalamus, and the left medial surface of the superior frontal gyrus had the highest likelihood of being activated by familiar music. On the other hand, the left insula, and the right anterior cingulate cortex had the highest likelihood of being activated by unfamiliar music. We had expected limbic structures as top clusters when listening to familiar music. But, instead, music familiarity had a motor pattern of activation. This could reflect an audio-motor synchronization to the rhythm which is more engaging for familiar tunes, and/or a sing-along response in one's mind, anticipating melodic, harmonic progressions, rhythms, timbres, and lyric events in the familiar songs. These data provide evidence for the need for larger neuroimaging studies to understand the neural correlates of music familiarity

In Patients with Established RA, Positive Effects of a Randomised Three Month WBV Therapy Intervention on Functional Ability, Bone Mineral Density and Fatigue Are Sustained for up to Six Months

Functional ability is often impaired for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), rendering these patients highly sedentary. Additionally, patients with RA often take medication known to negatively affect bone mass. Thus improving functional ability and bone health in this group of patients is important. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) therapy in patients with stable, established RA. Thirty one females with RA were randomly assigned to a control group (CON, n = 15) who continued with their normal activities or a WBV group (n = 16) who underwent a three month WBV therapy intervention, consisting of 15 minutes of intermittent vibration, performed twice per week. Patients were assessed at baseline, three months, and three months post intervention for functional ability using the modified Health Assessment Questionnaire; for RA disease activity using the Clinical Disease Activity Index, for quality of life using self-report fatigue and pain scores; for physical activity profiles using accelerometry, and for BMD and body composition using DXA. Patients in both groups were matched for all variables at baseline. After the intervention period, functional ability was significantly improved in the WBV group (1.22(0.19) to 0.92(0.19), p = 0.02). Hip BMD was significantly reduced in the CON group (0.97(0.05) to 0.84(0.05) g.cm-2, p = 0.01), while no decreases were seen in the WBV group (1.01(0.05) to 0.94(0.05) g.cm-2, p = 0.50). Despite no change in RA disease activity in either group at either follow up, fatigue levels were improved in the WBV group (4.4(0.63) to 1.1(0.65), yet remained unchanged in the CON group at both follow ups (p = 0.01). Ten minute bouts of light to moderate physical activity were significantly reduced in the CON group after the intervention (2.8(0.61) to 1.8(0.64) bouts per day, p = 0.01), and were preserved in the WBV group (3.1(0.59) to 3.0(0.61) bouts per day, p = 0.70). Intermittent WBV shows promise for sustained improvements in functional ability, for attenuating loss of bone mass at the hip, as well as for decreasing fatigue in patients with established RA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pan African Clinical Trials Registry PACTR201405000823418

Intracerebral seizure patterns during presurgical monitoring of patients candidate to epilepsy surgery

Background. Despite a great number of antiepileptic drugs available, one-third of epilepsies remains medically intractable. A safe and effective treatment option for focal pharmacoresistant epilepsy is the surgical resection of the cortical area responsible for seizures generation and their primary organization (epileptogenic zone, EZ). The identification of the EZ is fundamental for a successful surgery and is based on the anatomo-electro-clinical correlation established through seizures observation and electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. Imaging techniques also play a role in this process, and invasive studies may be required for the most complex cases. Stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) allows prolonged (1-3 weeks) recordings with intracerebral electrodes, aimed at localizing the EZ during the recording of spontaneous seizures. After the SEEG, a resection is usually proposed, but in some cases a valid alternative is radiofrequency thermocoagulation (THC) of the EZ through the same recording electrodes. The outcome of epilepsy surgery depends on the correct EZ identification and is evaluated based on seizure recurrence. The visual analysis of SEEG signal of a single patient by expert epileptologists requires several days. To assist and expedite this process, in the last decade computerized methods for SEEG analysis were developed. Material and methods. In this study we retrospectively analyze the SEEG seizures recordings from 176 patients with a computer-assisted method developed by Gnatkovsky et al. with the Elpho-EEG™ software. The spectral analysis of intracranial recordings allows the identification of three different focal seizure patterns and the localization of the EZ with specific frequency peaks at seizure initiation (fast activity and slow polarizing shift). Results. We further characterize three specific pattern subtypes, defined as P-, L-, and P+L-type, based on seizure discharge duration and involvement of the mesial temporal regions. P-type seizures present with an abrupt and large amplitude slow polarizing shift (SPS), with sharp on and off transients and a superimposed low-voltage fast activity (LVFA) at 100-200 Hz, that linearly decreases in frequency (down chirp) in 5-10 s. The down chirp was described by other authors as a fingerprint spectrographic signature of seizure onset in SEEG. Mean seizure duration is 26 ± 20 s. L-type seizures start with LVFA at 116 ± 21 Hz) superimposed on a slowly developing SPS; they evolve in tonic spiking discharge and terminate with a bursting phase. The duration is longer than P-type seizures, with a mean of 112 ± 47 s. L-type pattern was found more often in the temporal lobe, associated with different pathologies. P+L-type pattern presents with a short (mean: 7.8 s) P phase followed by an L phase, and has a total duration of 81 ± 46 s. It often secondarily involves mesial temporal regions. The three patterns have similar seizure outcome after surgery or THC. They all can reflect different underlining neuropathology, but a significative association was found between L-type seizure pattern and hippocampal sclerosis. Conclusions. The method we applied show high operator-independent reproducibility and allows quick identification of probable seizure-onset areas with no information on clinical features, imaging findings, or electrodes’ position. We utilized the computer-assisted method and the traditional visual assessment to validate the comparison between the two methods and to gather information for an easier and more objective EZ detection

Neural Correlates of Familiarity in Music Listening: A Systematic Review and a Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis

Familiarity in music has been reported as an important factor modulating emotional and hedonic responses in the brain. Familiarity and repetition may increase the liking of a piece of music, thus inducing positive emotions. Neuroimaging studies have focused on identifying the brain regions involved in the processing of familiar and unfamiliar musical stimuli. However, the use of different modalities and experimental designs has led to discrepant results and it is not clear which areas of the brain are most reliably engaged when listening to familiar and unfamiliar musical excerpts. In the present study, we conducted a systematic review from three databases (Medline, PsychoINFO, and Embase) using the keywords (recognition OR familiar OR familiarity OR exposure effect OR repetition) AND (music OR song) AND (brain OR brains OR neuroimaging OR functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging OR Position Emission Tomography OR Electroencephalography OR Event Related Potential OR Magnetoencephalography). Of the 704 titles identified, 23 neuroimaging studies met our inclusion criteria for the systematic review. After removing studies providing insufficient information or contrasts, 11 studies (involving 212 participants) qualified for the meta-analysis using the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. Our results did not find significant peak activations consistently across included studies. Using a less conservative approach (p < 0.001, uncorrected for multiple comparisons) we found that the left superior frontal gyrus, the ventral lateral (VL) nucleus of the left thalamus, and the left medial surface of the superior frontal gyrus had the highest likelihood of being activated by familiar music. On the other hand, the left insula, and the right anterior cingulate cortex had the highest likelihood of being activated by unfamiliar music. We had expected limbic structures as top clusters when listening to familiar music. But, instead, music familiarity had a motor pattern of activation. This could reflect an audio-motor synchronization to the rhythm which is more engaging for familiar tunes, and/or a sing-along response in one’s mind, anticipating melodic, harmonic progressions, rhythms, timbres, and lyric events in the familiar songs. These data provide evidence for the need for larger neuroimaging studies to understand the neural correlates of music familiarity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio