Specialized neural dynamics for verbal and tonal memory: fMRI evidence in congenital amusia.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral and neuropsychological studies have suggested that tonal and verbal short-term memory are supported by specialized neural networks. To date however, neuroimaging investigations have failed to confirm this hypothesis. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis of distinct neural resources for tonal and verbal memory by comparing typical nonmusician listeners to individuals with congenital amusia, who exhibit pitch memory impairments with preserved verbal memory. During fMRI, amusics and matched controls performed delayed-match-to-sample tasks with tones and words and perceptual control tasks with the same stimuli. For tonal maintenance, amusics showed decreased activity in the right auditory cortex, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and dorso-lateral-prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). More

SUBMITTER: Albouy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6916746 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature