title: The anterior portion of the bilateral temporal lobes participates in music perception: a positron emission tomography study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The mechanism underlying the perception of music has been the subject of study for many years. We investigated the role of the anterior portion of the temporal lobes in the perception of music in nonmusicians by use of positron emission tomography (PET).
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the subtraction technique for PET to investigate the role of the anterior portion of the bilateral temporal lobes in music perception. Nonmusicians performed two kinds of musical tasks: harmony listening and soprano part listening.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the harmony-listening task, the anterior portion of the temporal lobes, cingulate gyri, and cerebellum were bilaterally activated. During the soprano part-listening task, the bilateral superior parietal lobules, and the right precuneus were significantly activated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The anterior portion of the bilateral temporal lobes is vital in the discrimination of melodies and chords. Differences between activated brain regions exist between musicians and nonmusicians when listening to a particular vocal part of a musical phrase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mie University School of Medicine, Mie, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hatazawa
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuzuhara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed