Characteristics of Evoked Changes in EEG Spectral Power and Evoked Potentials on Perception of Musical Harmonies in Musicians and Nonmusicians

• DOI: 10.1007/s11055-014-0042-z
• Publication Date: 2014-12-13T04:44:55Z
• Authors: A. V. Maslennikova; A. A. Varlamov; V. B. Strelets
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine

We report here our studies on activity evoked in the brain on perception of consonant and dissonant chords in subjects with different levels of musical education and experience of playing music. Perception of chords was associated with significantly greater theta-rhythm power levels in the frontomedial leads, which were more marked for consonant chords than dissonant chords. Perception of consonant chords in nonmusicians was accompanied by greater activation of the left frontal lobe than the right, while this asymmetry was not seen in musicians. In addition, the amplitudes of the early components (N100, P200) of evoked potentials for both types of chord were significantly greater in musicians. These results may be evidence for more effective perception strategies for musical harmony and less emotional perception of chords in musicians.