Functional network interactions during sensorimotor synchronization in musicians and non-musicians

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Auditory Perception

Background:

• Precise timing in sensorimotor synchronization is vital for many activities.
• Musicians demonstrate enhanced timing abilities compared to non-musicians.
• The specific neural network underlying this superior timing remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neurophysiological basis of superior timing in musicians.
• To characterize the functional brain network involved in sensorimotor synchronization.
• To compare brain activity between drummers, pianists, and non-musicians during a timing task.

Main Methods:

• Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to measure neuromagnetic activity in 122 channels.
• The Dynamic Imaging of Coherent Sources (DICS) beamformer approach identified functional brain networks.
• Participants included professional drummers, pianists, and a control group of non-musicians performing an auditory synchronization task.

Main Results:

• Drummers exhibited less behavioral variability in synchronization than non-musicians.
• A cerebello-thalamo-cortical network was identified in all participants.
• Enhanced functional interactions were observed between the premotor cortex (PMC)-thalamus and posterior parietal cortex (PPC)-thalamus in drummers, particularly at alpha and beta frequencies.

Conclusions:

• Precise timing is linked to increased functional connectivity within a PMC-thalamus-PPC network.
• PMC-thalamus connectivity at beta frequency may indicate musical expertise.
• PPC-thalamus interaction appears specifically relevant for achieving precise timing.