title: Music Listening modulates Functional Connectivity and Information Flow in the Human Brain.
abstract: Listening to familiar music has recently been reported to be beneficial during recovery from stroke. A better understanding of changes in functional connectivity and information flow is warranted in order to further optimize and target this approach through music therapy. Twelve healthy volunteers listened to seven different auditory samples during an fMRI scanning session: a musical piece chosen by the volunteer that evokes a strong emotional response (referred to as: "self-selected emotional"), two unfamiliar music pieces (Invention #1 by J. S. Bach* and Gagaku - Japanese classical opera, referred to as "unfamiliar"), the Bach piece repeated with visual guidance (DML: Directed Music Listening) and three spoken language pieces (unfamiliar African click language, an excerpt of emotionally charged language, and an unemotional reading of a news bulletin). Functional connectivity and betweenness (BTW) maps, a measure for information flow, were created with a graph-theoretical approach. Distinct variation in functional connectivity was found for different music pieces consistently for all subjects. Largest brain areas were recruited for processing self-selected music with emotional attachment or culturally unfamiliar music. Maps of information flow correlated significantly with fMRI BOLD activation maps (p<0.05). Observed differences in BOLD activation and functional connectivity may help explain previously observed beneficial effects in stroke recovery, as increased blood flow to damaged brain areas stimulated by active engagement through music listening may have supported a state more conducive to therapy.
authors.affiliation: Houston Methodist Research Institute, 167626, Houston, Texas, United States ; ckarmonik@houstonmethodist.org.
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karmonik
authors.affiliation: Rice University, 3990, Shepard School of Music, Houston, Texas, United States ; abrandt@rice.edu.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.affiliation: Houston Methodist Research Institute, 167626, Houston, Texas, United States ; jeff_r_anderson@outlook.com.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: Houston Methodist Hospital, 23534, Center for Performing Arts Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States ; broosk.forrest.a@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Forrest
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.affiliation: Houston Methodist Hospital, 23534, Center for Performing Arts Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States ; jlytle@houstonmethodist.org.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lytle
authors.affiliation: Lahey Hospital and Medical Center Burlington, 2094, Burlington, Massachusetts, United States ; elliott@conductingperformance.org.
authors.forename: Elliott
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Silverman
authors.affiliation: Houston Methodist Hospital, 23534, Center for Performing Arts Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States ; jtfrazier@houstonmethodist.org.
authors.forename: Jeff T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Frazier
keywords: Correlation; Functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI); Graph theory