A multimodal neural network recruited by expertise with musical notation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Perceptual Expertise

Background:

• Previous neuroimaging studies on visual expertise primarily examined changes within the visual system.
• The role of nonvisual brain areas in acquiring expert visual skills remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural basis of expertise in reading musical notation, a skill potentially involving multimodal abilities.
• To compare brain activity between music-reading experts and novices across different visual stimuli.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
• Participants included individuals expert in reading musical notation and novices.
• Brain responses were recorded during the perception of musical notation, Roman letters, and mathematical symbols.

Main Results:

• Music-reading experts exhibited selective brain activity for musical notation within a widespread multimodal network.
• Activity in several nonvisual brain regions correlated with behavioral measures of perceptual fluency in music reading.
• The observed visual selectivity for musical notation differed from that for faces, single letters, or letter strings.

Conclusions:

• Acquiring expertise in reading musical notation involves a broad network of multimodal brain areas, not solely the visual system.
• Activity in these nonvisual areas can predict individual differences in visual perceptual expertise.
• These findings offer new insights into visual perceptual expertise, music reading, and musical expertise.