Rhythm, Music, and the Brain

Michael H. Thaut PhD

Professor of Music
Professor of Neuroscience
Director, Music and Health Research Collaboratory MaHRC
Director, Music and Health Sciences Graduate Programs
Faculty of Music
University of Toronto
Anatomy and Physiology
 AUDIOSPINAL PATHWAY
VIA THE RETICULAR FORMATION
Inferior Colliculus: Auditory - Motor Pathways

Ehret and Romand, “The Central Auditory System”

Extreme Capsule

Temporal – Frontal
Pathways

Schmahmann and Pandya

Fiber Pathways of the Brain
Arcuate Fasciculus Temporal – Frontal Pathways

Schmahmann and Pandya

Fiber Pathways of the Brain
Primary and (Secondary) Association
AuditoryCortex
Broca’s and Wernicke’s Area – Functions in
Speech and Music
Neurons, Brains, and Muscles
 THE HUMAN NERVOUS SYSTEM

• Peripheral Nervous System

Autonomic Nervous System (sympathetic – parasympathetic)
Musculosketal System

• Central Nervous System

Brain – Spinal Cord
The Human Nervous System
 How Do PNS And CNS Communicate

• 31 Pairs of Spinal Nerves in 4 Regions –

Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, Sacral

• 12 Pairs of Cranial Nerves – Head and Neck

Region
 TYPES OF NEURONS
• AFFERENT NEURONS (SENSORY)

• EFFERENT NEURONS (MOTOR)

• INTERNEURONS (CONNECT
NEURONS IN CNS)
Generic Neuron #1
hair cells
 BRAIN

?
?
?
vestibulo- ? To muscle
cochlear (neuromuscular
nerve
? junction)
?
BRAIN

The Realm of
Brain Imaging
Different kinds of neurons:
1 Unipolar neuron
2 Bipolar neuron
3 Multipolar neuron
4 Pseudounipolar neuron
In cerebral cortex; In cerebellum
output to motor
neurons
 White and Grey Matter
The Two Central Processing Units in the Brain

• Grey Matter – Neural Cell Bodies and Dendrites in the Brain and Spinal Cord
• White Matter – The Connections between Neurons: Nerve Fibers (Myelinated
Axons and Glial Cells)
• Male: 176 000 km of Myelinated Fibers – Female: 149 000 km (age 20)
 Neuron Facts:

1. Neurons come in two main varieties – sensory and motor.

2. The human brain contains about 100,000,000,000 neurons.

3. An axon of one neuron may form synapses (connections) with as

many as 1000 other neurons.

4. An “average” neuron (spinal motor cell) typically receives about 10,000

contacts from other neurons. Some neurons receive 150,000 contacts!

5. BRAIN PLASTICITY: The brain is constantly “remodeling” itself –

removing existing connections and forming new connections.

6. The central nervous system (CNS – brain and spinal cord) is an

electrochemical “information transfer” system.

7. Brain-driven activity is the result of “networks” of neurons firing in

synchrony or sequentially.

Principles of Neural Science. Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell, Third Edition, 1991, 8.5 pounds.
Structures of the Brain
 Structures of the Brain
Brain Stem and Subcortex
• Brain Stem – Pons, Medulla, Midbrain
• Cerebellum
• Thalamus – Hypothalamus
• Basal Ganglia
• Amygdala
• Hippocampus
• ‘Limbic System’
 Structures of the Brain
Neocortex
• Sensory Lobes – Temporal, Parietal,
Occipital

• Motor Lobe – Frontal

• Executive – Prefrontal Cortex

Subdivisions of the Lobes
Brain Hemispheres and Corpus
Callosum
 MUSICAL SPEECH STIMULATION FOR EXPRESSIVE APHASIA REHABILITATION
Dissociation between singing and speaking in expressiveaphasia: The role of song familiarity
Thomas Straube , Alexander Schulz, Katja Geipel ,Hans-Joachim Mentzel , Wolfgang H.R. Miltner
Neuropsychologia 46 (2008) 1505–1512
NEUROPLASTICITY
NEUROPLASTICITY AND MELODIC INTONATION THERAPY
SCHLAUG, MARCHINA, NORTON. 2009. ANNALS NYAS
ASD BRAIN MODELS
 Potential effects of network connectivity patterns on brain activation.

Matthew K. Belmonte et al. J. Neurosci. 2004;24:9228-9231

©2004 by Society for Neuroscience