title: Functional asymmetry in primary auditory cortex for processing musical sounds: temporal pattern analysis of fMRI time series.
abstract: Hemispheric differences in the temporal processing of musical sounds within the primary auditory cortex were investigated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series analysis on a 3.0 T system in right-handed individuals who had no formal training in music. The two hemispheres exhibited a clear-cut asymmetry in the time pattern of fMRI signals. A large transient signal component was observed in the left primary auditory cortex immediately after the onset of musical sounds, while only sustained activation, without an initial transient component, was seen in the right primary auditory cortex. The observed difference was believed to reflect differential segmentation in primary auditory cortical sound processing. Although the left primary auditory cortex processed the entire 30-s musical sound stimulus as a single event, the right primary auditory cortex had low-level processing of sounds with multiple segmentations of shorter time scales. The study indicated that musical sounds are processed as 'sounds with contents', similar to how language is processed in the left primary auditory cortex.
authors.affiliation: Center for Integrated Human Brain Science, Brain Research Institute, Sensory and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Niigata, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: Kosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
authors.forename: Sugata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Ingrid L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Kwee
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakada
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D013016:Sound; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen