Neural control of playing a reversed piano: empirical evidence for an unusual cortical organization of musical functions.
Using functional magnetic imaging techniques and neuropsychological tests, we studied a young male musician (C.S.) who performs at a professional level both on a regular piano keyboard and on a reverse keyboard (reversed right to left). The participant was left-handed, had left dominance for language but, remarkably, right dominance for the control of piano playing on both keyboards. With respect to music perception, C.S. showed left-sided activation dominance within the left superior temporal sulcus, which is normally associated with higher order auditory processing and right-sided activations in the secondary sensory cortex extending into the supramarginal gyrus. We suggest that C.S.'s pattern of functional asymmetry, characterized by audio-motor control using a right-sided network, could be a factor in his exceptional piano-playing ability on both the standard and reversed keyboard.
Jäncke
Lutz
L
Department of Neuropsychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. l.jaencke@psychologie.unizh.ch
Baumann
Simon
S
Koeneke
Susan
S
Meyer
Martin
M
Laeng
Bruno
B
Peters
Michael
M
Lutz
Kai
K
D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology