Musicianship and melodic predictability enhance neural gain in auditory cortex during pitch deviance detection

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Auditory Perception
• Music Cognition

Background:

• Pitch deviations in music elicit stronger prediction error responses when melodies are predictable and listeners are musicians.
• Neuronal dynamics and connectivity changes underlying these effects are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate if magnetic mismatch negativity response (MMNm) modulation by context predictability and musical expertise relates to enhanced neural gain in auditory areas.
• Explore mechanisms for encoding precision-weighted prediction errors using dynamic causal modeling (DCM).

Main Methods:

• Employed dynamic causal modeling (DCM) and Bayesian model comparison.
• Analyzed magnetoencephalography (MEG) responses to pitch deviations in predictable and unpredictable melodic contexts.
• Compared models focusing on intrinsic auditory cortex connections versus extrinsic connections between auditory areas.

Main Results:

• Pitch deviations decreased inhibitory connectivity in primary auditory cortex (A1) and superior temporal gyrus (STG), suggesting enhanced neural gain.
• Melodic predictability was linked to disinhibition in the right A1.
• Musical expertise correlated with disinhibition in the left A1 and altered STG-A1 connectivity.

Conclusions:

• Musicianship, melodic predictability, and pitch deviations enhance neural gain in auditory cortex during deviance detection.
• Findings support predictive processing theories of precise error signal selection for hierarchical processing.