Composing in the scanner: A functional magnetic resonance imaging single case study on visual and auditory imagery

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Music Cognition

Background:

• Musical imagery, encompassing "seeing with the mind's eye" (visual) and "hearing with the mind's ear" (auditory), is crucial for musical experience.
• The neural underpinnings and shared mechanisms of distinct sensory modalities in musical imagery remain largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether visual and auditory musical imagery of the same composition engage shared neural mechanisms.
• To explore how neural processes support the temporal flow within musical imagery.

Main Methods:

• A preliminary single case study utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
• An eminent composer engaged in visual imagery (imagining the musical score) and auditory imagery (imagining the music aurally) of his own composition, compared to a resting state.

Main Results:

• Both visual and auditory musical imagery conditions exhibited similar temporal durations for the imagined composition.
• Distinct patterns of neural activation were observed between visual and auditory imagery.
• A common activation pattern was identified in the left medial temporal gyrus for both imagery types.

Conclusions:

• Visual and auditory musical imagery likely involve partially distinct neural mechanisms.
• The left medial temporal gyrus may play a significant role in maintaining the perceived temporal continuity of musical imagery.
• This region could be fundamental to conscious information processing and temporal sequencing in general.