Next to the manifestation of sensori-motor transformations such as singing and dancing, the ability to play an instrument by ear must rely on a unique convergence of cerebral functions involving motor preparation and auditory perception. In this study, we aimed to gain insight into the extent to which …

Music moves us, literally. We tend to move the body in synchrony with the beat. Individuals without any professional music training are capable of singing or humming along with an unfamiliar melody or indicating the melodic contour by means of hand gestures. Musicians who play by ear are able to do the …

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used to study the cerebral underpinning of resonance behavior in professional keyboard musicians (n=12). The activation paradigm implied that subjects listened to two-part polyphonic music, while either critically appraising the performance or imagining …

Young musicians at the conservatoire: talent or attainment? The mastery of a music instrument comes after many hours of practice: on the average 10,000. It should therefore be no surprise that most great musicians started their studies at an early age. Moreover, the technical achievement of playing a …

In this fMRI study, it was hypothesized that mirror neurons in the premotor-parietal network would be activated while improvising performers listened to music. Such activations would suggest that perception is engaging the action repertoire of the improvising musician. Recognition and understanding of …

Our conception of the brain is influenced by metaphors like the computer which grant the brain an executive function. This notion ignores the fact that the brain evolved in the context of the natural environment and functions together with it. In addition, we are frequently less aware of the action-perception …

Using fMRI, ten improvising musicians were contrasted with 10 non-musicians to explore brain activations while playing by ear. Subjects either imagined playing the music they were listening to, without moving their hands, or assessed the performance verbally without actually speaking. Half of the music …

Mirror neurons in the cerebral cortex have been shown to fire not only during performance but also during visual and auditory observation of activity. This phenomenon is commonly called cerebral resonance behavior. This would mean that cortical motor regions would not only be activated while singing, …

Untrained listeners demonstrate implicit knowledge of syntactic patterns and principles. Untrained generative music ability, for example singing, humming, and whistling, is a largely unconscious or intuitive application of these patterns and principles. From the viewpoint of embodied cognition, listening …