title: Melody effects on ERANm elicited by harmonic irregularity in musical syntax.
abstract: Recent studies have reported that early right anterior negativity (ERAN) and its magnetic counterpart (ERANm) are evoked by harmonic irregularity in Western tonal music; however, those studies did not control for differences of melody. Because melody and harmony have an interdependent relationship and because melody (in this study melody is represented by the highest voice part) in a chord sequence may dominate, there is controversy over whether ERAN (or ERANm) changes arise from melody or harmony differences. To separate the effects of melody differences and harmonic irregularity on ERANm responses, we designed two magnetoencephalography experiments and behavioral test. Participants were presented with three types of chord progression sequences (Expected, Intermediate, and Unexpected) with different harmonic regularities in which melody differences were or were not controlled. In the uncontrolled melody difference experiment, the unexpected chord elicited a significantly largest ERANm, but in the controlled melody difference experiment, the amplitude of the ERANm peak did not differ among the three conditions. However, ERANm peak latency was delayed more than that in the uncontrolled melody difference experiment. The behavioral results show the difference between the two experiments even if harmonic irregularity was discriminated in the uncontrolled melody difference experiment. In conclusion, our analysis reveals that there is a relationship between the effects of harmony and melody on ERANm. Hence, we suggest that a melody difference in a chord progression is largely responsible for the observed changes in ERANm, reaffirming that melody plays an important role in the processing of musical syntax.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Seoul National University College of Natural Science, Seoul, Republic of Korea; MEG Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chan Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Seoul National University College of Natural Science, Seoul, Republic of Korea; MEG Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sojin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: MEG Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Sensory Organ Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: June Sic
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Imaging Language Group, Brain Research Unit, O. V. Lounasmaa Laboratory, Aalto University School of Science, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland.
authors.forename: Jaeho
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seol
authors.affiliation: Department of Music, The Graduate School Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Western Music Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Suk Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, Seoul National University College of Natural Science, Seoul, Republic of Korea; MEG Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science, Seoul National University College of Humanities, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Seoul National University College of Natural Science, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: chungc@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Chun Kee
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D059031:Anticipation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D009146:Music; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D011361:Professional Competence; D011930:Reaction Time; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chord progression; ERANm; Magnetoencephalography; Melody; Musical syntax