Modelling the perception of music in brain network dynamics

TL;DR

This study models how music influences brain network dynamics using FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators, revealing frequency-dependent coherence increases and neural synchronization patterns related to musical structure and brain activity.

Contribution

It introduces a computational model linking music perception to brain network dynamics, highlighting frequency-specific coherence and synchronization phenomena.

Findings

Coherence between network dynamics and music input increases with specific songs.

Neural synchronization varies across frequency bands, especially in gamma range.

Differences in high and low frequency brain activity relate to cortical and subcortical interactions.

Abstract

We analyze the influence of music in a network of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators with empirical structural connectivity measured in healthy human subjects. We report an increase of coherence between the global dynamics in our network and the input signal induced by a specific music song. We show that the level of coherence depends crucially on the frequency band. We compare our results with experimental data, which also describe global neural synchronization between different brain regions in the gamma-band range and its increase just before transitions between different parts of the musical form (musical high-level events). The results also suggest a separation in musical form-related brain synchronization between high brain frequencies, associated with neocortical activity, and low frequencies in the range of dance movements, associated with interactivity between cortical and subcortical regions.