1,720,994 research outputs found
Instrument-specific effects of musical expertise on audiovisual processing (Clarinet vs. Violin)
No full textA large body of evidence has shown that musicians' brains differ in many ways from nonmusicians' brains due to the particularly intense and prolonged sensorimotor training involved. Not much is known about the effects of the specific musical instrument played on brain processing of audiovisual information. In this study the effect of musical expertise was investigated in professional clarinetists and violinists. One hundred and eighty videos showing fragments of musical performances played on a violin or a clarinet were presented to musicians of G. Verdi Milan Conservatory and age-matched controls. Half of the musicians were violinists, the other half were clarinetists; eventrelated potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 128 scalp sites and analyzed. Participants judged how many notes were played in each clip. The task was extremely easy for all participants. Over prefrontal areas an anterior negativity response was found to be much larger in controls than in musicians, and in musicians for the unfamiliar over the familiar musical instrument. Furthermore, a later central negativity response showed a lack of note numerosity effect in the brains of musicians for their own instrument, but not for unfamiliar instrument. The data indicate that music training is instrument-specific and that it profoundly affects prefrontal encoding of music-related information and auditory processing
Left-hemispheric asymmetry for object-based attention: an ERP study
Full text linkIt has been shown that selective attention enhances the activity in visual regions associated with stimulus processing. The left hemisphere seems to have a prominent role when non-spatial attention is directed towards specific stimulus features (e.g., color, spatial frequency). The present electrophysiological study investigated the time course and neural correlates of object-based attention, under the assumption of left-hemispheric asymmetry. Twenty-nine right-handed participants were presented with 3D graphic images representing the shapes of different object categories (wooden dummies, chairs, structures of cubes) which lacked detail. They were instructed to press a button in response to a target stimulus indicated at the beginning of each run. The perception of non-target stimuli elicited a larger anterior N2 component, which was likely associated with motor inhibition. Conversely, target selection resulted in an enhanced selection negativity (SN) response lateralized over the left occipito-temporal regions, followed by a larger centro-parietal P300 response. These potentials were interpreted as indexing attentional selection and categorization processes, respectively. The standardized weighted low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (swLORETA) source reconstruction showed the engagement of a fronto-temporo-limbic network underlying object-based visual attention. Overall, the SN scalp distribution and relative neural generators hinted at a left-hemispheric advantage for non-spatial object-based visual attentio
ERP signs of early selective attention effects to check-size at striate and extrastriate visual areas
No full textBilateral engagement of the occipito-temporal cortex in response to dance kinematics in experts
Full text linkPrevious evidence has shown neuroplastic changes in brain anatomy and connectivity associated with the acquisition of professional visuomotor skills. Reduced hemispherical asymmetry was found in the sensorimotor and visual areas in expert musicians and athletes compared with non-experts. Moreover, increased expertise with faces, body, and objects resulted in an enhanced engagement of the occipito-temporal cortex (OTC) during stimulus observation. The present study aimed at investigating whether intense and extended practice with dance would result in an enhanced symmetric response of OTC at an early stage of action processing. Expert ballet dancers and non-dancer controls were presented with videos depicting ballet steps during EEG recording. The observation of the moving dancer elicited a posterior N2 component, being larger over the left hemisphere in dancers than controls. The source reconstruction (swLORETA) of the negativity showed the engagement of the bilateral inferior and middle temporal regions in experts, while right-lateralized activity was found in controls. The dancers also showed an early P2 and enhanced P300 responses, indicating faster stimulus processing and subsequent recognition. This evidence seemed to suggest expertise-related increased sensitivity of the OTC in encoding body kinematics. Thus, we speculated that long-term whole-body practice would result in enriched and refined action processin
Selective attention to gratings orientation: ERP indicants of a left temporal early activation
No full text
Observation of static pictures of dynamic actions enhances the activity of movement-related brain areas
No full textVoluntary orienting influences conflict resolution: an ERP and source reconstruction study
No full textElectrophysiological evidence of a perceptual precedence of global vs. local visual information
No full text- …
