Neural basis of music perception

Music is a multifaceted psychologic phenomenon, and separating the perceptual aspects of musical experiences from other aspects of those experiences is difficult, given music's propensity to trigger memories, movements, and emotions. Given that music is primarily an auditory phenomenon, it is reasonable to assume that the auditory cortex will play a major role in the representation of musical auditory scenes. The primary objective of this chapter was to survey the literature and perform a meta-analysis of the neuroimaging literature in order to determine whether a delineation of the lateral temporal lobes emerges in terms of the processing of tonal, temporal, and timbral aspects of musical information. The meta-analysis revealed both overlapping and non-overlapping areas of auditory cortex, with a tendency for melodic and harmonic manipulations to activate areas outside the primary auditory cortex. Regions of the superior temporal gyrus and superior temporal sulcus rostral and ventral to the auditory cortex appear to play an important role in the perception of melodic intervals and patterns, and harmonies, but may not play a direct role in maintaining or evaluating higher-order tonal relationships that govern key membership or relationships between major and minor keys.