Improvising at rest: Differentiating jazz and classical music training with resting state functional connectivity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Music Psychology

Background:

• Jazz improvisation is a model for creative cognition, involving real-time novel content creation.
• Previous task-fMRI studies show Default Mode Network (DMN) and Executive Control Network (ECN) recruitment during improvisation.
• This study investigates if these task-based findings extend to intrinsic resting-state functional connectivity differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare resting-state functional connectivity in improvising musicians, classical musicians, and minimally musically trained controls.
• To explore the relationship between functional connectivity and behavioral performance in musical improvisation and divergent thinking.
• To determine if musical training influences intrinsic brain network organization.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) was used to analyze seed-based functional connectivity and network properties.
• Participants included improvising musicians, classical musicians, and minimally musically trained (MMT) controls.
• Graph-theoretical analysis quantified network measures like betweenness centrality and local efficiency.

Main Results:

• Musically trained individuals (both improvisers and classical musicians) showed higher connectivity in the ventral DMN (vDMN) and bilateral ECN compared to MMT controls.
• Improvisational musicians exhibited higher connectivity between the primary visual network, DMN, and ECN.
• Classical musicians showed higher connectivity between vDMN and the frontal pole, alongside distinct graph-theoretical network profiles (higher betweenness centrality, clustering, local efficiency).

Conclusions:

• Heightened functional connectivity is observed in musically trained individuals, differing between improvisational and classical musicians.
• Classical musicians demonstrate more tightly organized, within-network connectivity.
• Improvisational musicians display more globally connected cortical networks, suggesting distinct neural underpinnings for different musical expertise and creative cognition.