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Updated: Sep 29, 2026

fMRI Mapping of Brain Activity Associated with the Vocal Production of Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
Published on: May 23, 2017
Music matters: preattentive musicality of the human brain
Stefan Koelsch1, Erich Schroger, Thomas C Gunter
1Max-Planck-lnstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany. mail@stefan-koelsch.de
Abstract:
During listening to a musical piece, unexpected harmonies may evoke brain responses that are reflected electrically as an early right anterior negativity (ERAN) and a late frontal negativity (N5). In the present study we demonstrate that these components of the event-related potential can be evoked preattentively, that is, even when a musical stimulus is ignored. Both ERAN and N5 differed in amplitude as a function of music-theoretical principles. Participants had no special musical expertise; results thus provide evidence for an automatic processing of musical information in onmusicians."
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