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. 2019 Dec 30;14(12):1441-1452.
doi: 10.1093/scan/nsaa004.

Brain networks mediating the influence of background music on selective attention

Natalia B Fernandez  1   2 , Wiebke J Trost  2 , Patrik Vuilleumier  1   2
Affiliations

Brain networks mediating the influence of background music on selective attention

Natalia B Fernandez et al. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. .

Abstract

Prevalent across societies and times, music has the ability to enhance attention, a property relevant to clinical applications, but the underlying brain mechanisms remain unknown. It is also unclear whether music produces similar or differential effects with advancing age. Here, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the influence of music exposure evoking four types of emotions on distinct attentional components measured with a modified attention network test, across 19 young (21 ± 2.6) and 33 old participants (72 ± 5.4). We then determined whether music-related effects differed across age groups and whether they were associated with particular acoustic features. Background music during selective attention requiring distractor conflict resolution was associated with faster response times and greater activations of fronto-parietal areas during happy and high-arousing music, whereas sad and low-valence music was associated with slower responses and greater occipital recruitment. Shifting and altering components of attention were unaffected. The influence of music on performance and brain networks was similar between age groups. These behavioral and neuroimaging results demonstrate the importance of affective music dimensions, particularly arousal, in enhancing selective attention processes. This study adds novel support to the benefits of music in the rehabilitation of attention functions.

Keywords: acoustic features; aging; emotion; executive control; fMRI; neuroimaging.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The modified ANT. Illustration of the ANT design, with (A) different types of cues and (B) visual target stimuli used to assess the executive, alerting and orienting components of attention. The double cue is not illustrated here. (C) Standard trial time course at the beginning of a given musical block. After the music started, the first and all subsequent trials began with presentation of a cue (spatial invalid condition here), followed by a visual target with flankers (incongruent condition here). Participants had to indicate the direction of the central arrow (right or left) as fast and accurately as possible (within 1700 ms max after target presentation).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Behavioral results. Behavioral results for the executive control component of attention, shown for young and old adults separately. (A) Mean accuracy (%) (left) and RT (in milliseconds, ms) (right) for trials with congruent or incongruent flankers. (B) Mean RT (ms) regardless of congruence and group, as a function of the emotion category (left) or the valence and arousal dimensions (right) of background music during the task. Graphs also depict the standard errors of the mean (SEM) and P-values (asterisks) with the following meaning: *P-value < 0.05; **P-value < 0.01; ***P-value < 0.001.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Brain activations associated with the executive control component. Brain activations evoked by the attentional conflict (incongruent > congruent trials) and recruited across both age group, with areas showing increased activation (A) regardless or (B) as a function of the emotion evoked by background music. Areas differentially engaged according to the emotion category of music are depicted in different colors, namely joy (red), tense (yellow) and sad music (blue). (C) Areas differentially engaged according to basic dimensions of affect in music are depicted for high arousal (happy and tense, red) and low valence (sad and tense, blue). All clusters are significant at the peak-level at P < 0.05 after FWE correction for multiple comparisons.
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