Online Detection of Tonal Pop-Out in Modulating Contexts

We investigated the spontaneous detection of wrong notes in a melody that modulated continuously through all 24 major and minor keys. Three variations of the melody were composed, each of which had distributed within it 96 test tones of the same pitch, for example, A2. Thus, the test tones would blend into some keys and pop out in others. Participants were not asked to detect or judge specific test tones; rather, they were asked to make a response whenever they heard a note that they thought sounded wrong or out of place. This task enabled us to obtain subjective measures of key membership in a listening situation that approximated a natural musical context. The frequency of observed wrong-note responses across keys matched previous tonal hierarchy results obtained using judgments about discrete probes following short contexts. When the test tones were nondiatonic notes in the present context they elicited a response, whereas when the test tones occupied a prominent position in the tonal hierarchy they were not detected. Our findings could also be explained by the relative salience of the test pitch chroma in short-term memory, such that when the test tone belonged to a locally improbable pitch chroma it was more likely to elicit a response. Regardless of whether the local musical context is shaped primarily by bottom-up or topdown influences, our findings establish a method for estimating the relative salience of individual test events in a continuous melody

The Pelvis and Beyond: Musculoskeletal Tender Points in Women With Chronic Pelvic Pain

To determine the feasibility of a detailed pain sensitivity assessment using body wide musculoskeletal tender points (TPs) in women with different types of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) and compare phenotypic differences

Tonal centers and expectancy : facilitation or inhibition of chords at the top of the harmonic hierarchy?

Harmonic priming studies have shown that a musical context with its tonal center influences target chord processing. In comparison with targets following baseline contexts, which do not establish a specific tonal center, processing is facilitated for a strongly related target functioning as the tonic, but inhibited for unrelated (out-of-key) and less related (subdominant) targets. This study investigated cost and benefit patterns for the processing of the 3 most important chords of the harmonic hierarchy. Response time patterns reflected the chords' ranking: Processing was fastest for the tonic, followed by the dominant, and then the subdominant. The comparison with baseline contexts replicated the benefit of processing for tonic targets (Experiments 1 and 3) and the cost of processing for subdominant targets (Experiment 3), while dominant targets were situated at baseline level (Experiments 1 to 3). Findings indicate that listeners implicitly understand fine differences in tonal stabilities and confirm the special status of the tonic being the most expected and solely facilitated chord at the end of a tonal context. Findings are discussed with references to sensory and cognitive approaches of music perception

Autonomic neurophysiologic implications of disorders comorbid with bladder pain syndrome vs myofascial pelvic pain.

AIMS: The neuropathophysiology of a debilitating chronic urologic pain condition, bladder pain syndrome (BPS), remains unknown. Our recent data suggests withdrawal of cardiovagal modulation in subjects with BPS, in contrast to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction in another chronic pelvic pain syndrome, myofascial pelvic pain (MPP). We evaluated whether comorbid disorders differentially associated with BPS vs MPP shed additional light on these autonomic differences. METHODS: We compared the presence and relative time of onset of 27 other medical conditions in women with BPS, MPP, both syndromes, and healthy subjects. Analysis included an adjustment for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: Among 107 female subjects (BPS alone = 32; BPS with MPP = 36; MPP alone = 9; healthy controls = 30), comorbidities differentially associated with BPS included irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dyspepsia, and chronic nausea, whereas those associated with MPP included migraine headache and dyspepsia, consistent with the distinct autonomic neurophysiologic signatures of the two disorders. PTSD (earliest), anxiety, depression, migraine headache, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and IBS usually preceded BPS or MPP. PTSD and the presence of both pelvic pain disorders in the same subject correlated with significantly increased comorbid burden. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests a distinct pattern of comorbid conditions in women with BPS. These findings further support our hypothesis of primary vagal defect in BPS as compared with primary sympathetic defect in MPP, suggesting a new model for chronic these pelvic pain syndromes. Chronologically, PTSD, migraine, dysmenorrhea, and IBS occurred early, supporting a role for PTSD or its trigger in the pathophysiology of chronic pelvic pain

Autonomic neurophysiologic implications of disorders comorbid with bladder pain syndrome vs myofascial pelvic pain

Aims: The neuropathophysiology of a debilitating chronic urologic pain condition, bladder pain syndrome (BPS), remains unknown. Our recent data suggests withdrawal of cardiovagal modulation in subjects with BPS, in contrast to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction in another chronic pelvic pain syndrome, myofascial pelvic pain (MPP). We evaluated whether comorbid disorders differentially associated with BPS vs MPP shed additional light on these autonomic differences. Methods: We compared the presence and relative time of onset of 27 other medical conditions in women with BPS, MPP, both syndromes, and healthy subjects. Analysis included an adjustment for multiple comparisons. Results: Among 107 female subjects (BPS alone = 32; BPS with MPP = 36; MPP alone = 9; healthy controls = 30), comorbidities differentially associated with BPS included irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dyspepsia, and chronic nausea, whereas those associated with MPP included migraine headache and dyspepsia, consistent with the distinct autonomic neurophysiologic signatures of the two disorders. PTSD (earliest), anxiety, depression, migraine headache, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and IBS usually preceded BPS or MPP. PTSD and the presence of both pelvic pain disorders in the same subject correlated with significantly increased comorbid burden. Conclusions: Our study suggests a distinct pattern of comorbid conditions in women with BPS. These findings further support our hypothesis of primary vagal defect in BPS as compared with primary sympathetic defect in MPP, suggesting a new model for chronic these pelvic pain syndromes. Chronologically, PTSD, migraine, dysmenorrhea, and IBS occurred early, supporting a role for PTSD or its trigger in the pathophysiology of chronic pelvic pain

Autonomic neurophysiologic implications of disorders comorbid with bladder pain syndrome vs myofascial pelvic pain

Aims: The neuropathophysiology of a debilitating chronic urologic pain condition, bladder pain syndrome (BPS), remains unknown. Our recent data suggests withdrawal of cardiovagal modulation in subjects with BPS, in contrast to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction in another chronic pelvic pain syndrome, myofascial pelvic pain (MPP). We evaluated whether comorbid disorders differentially associated with BPS vs MPP shed additional light on these autonomic differences. Methods: We compared the presence and relative time of onset of 27 other medical conditions in women with BPS, MPP, both syndromes, and healthy subjects. Analysis included an adjustment for multiple comparisons. Results: Among 107 female subjects (BPS alone = 32; BPS with MPP = 36; MPP alone = 9; healthy controls = 30), comorbidities differentially associated with BPS included irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), dyspepsia, and chronic nausea, whereas those associated with MPP included migraine headache and dyspepsia, consistent with the distinct autonomic neurophysiologic signatures of the two disorders. PTSD (earliest), anxiety, depression, migraine headache, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and IBS usually preceded BPS or MPP. PTSD and the presence of both pelvic pain disorders in the same subject correlated with significantly increased comorbid burden. Conclusions: Our study suggests a distinct pattern of comorbid conditions in women with BPS. These findings further support our hypothesis of primary vagal defect in BPS as compared with primary sympathetic defect in MPP, suggesting a new model for chronic these pelvic pain syndromes. Chronologically, PTSD, migraine, dysmenorrhea, and IBS occurred early, supporting a role for PTSD or its trigger in the pathophysiology of chronic pelvic pain