Neural correlates of processing musical meaning („semantics“)

Stefan Koelsch

What is musical meaning?

• (a) meaning which emerges from common patterns or forms (e.g., musical sound patterns that resemble sounds of objects, or qualities of objects)

• (b) meaning which arises from the suggestion of a particular mood (e.g., happy)

• (c) meaning due to extramusical associations (e.g., any national anthem)

• (d) meaning that emerges from combinations of formal structures that create tension (e.g., when perceiving an unexpected chord) and resolution (L.B. Meyer, 1956). The emergence of meaning based on the processing of musical structure requires integration of both expected and unexpected events into a larger, meaningful musical context.

Music is capable of transferring meaning information, and is an important means of communication. Most theorists distinguish between different aspects of musical meaning:

Music can activate representations of meaningful concepts

Koelsch et al., Nat Neurosci 2004

The N400 receives contributions from neurons located in the temporal lobe

Koelsch et al., Nat Neurosci 2004

Affective priming paradigm

Steinbeis & Koelsch, PLoS-ONE 2008

Electric brain responses to word (A) and chord (B) targets

Steinbeis & Koelsch, PLoS-ONE 2008

Word targets incongruous with the expressed affect of the preceding chord elicited an increased N400 between 300–500 ms distributed broadly over the scalp (A) with a centro-parietal maximum. Chord targets incongruous with the expressed affect of the preceding word elicited an increased N400 between 200–400 ms distributed broadly over the scalp (B) with a fronto-central maximum.

BOLD responses to word (A) and chord (B) targets

Incongruous word targets activated the right MTG (A), whereas incongruous chord targets activated the right posterior STS (B). Data is displayed at a threshold of p<0.005 (uncorrected) for visual purposes.

Steinbeis & Koelsch, PLoS-ONE 2008

Brain structures for processing meaning in music and language overlap

Wernicke‘s area

Priming studies with chords & words

• N400 to words shows that musical information (even a single chord) has systematic effects on semantic processing of words

• N400 to chords shows that such a semantic processing can also elicited by musical information

• The processing of musical semantics appears to involve the superior temporal sulcus / middle and superior temporal gyurs (right > left)

Caroline Traube, 2007

Interactions between music and language processing

Steinbeis & Koelsch, Cerebral Cortex, 2007

Processing of music can interact with language-semantic processing