Anyone who has ever played in an orchestra will be familiar with the phenomenon: the impulse for one's own actions does not seem to come from one's own mind alone, but rather seems to be controlled by the coordinated activity of the group. And indeed, interbrain networks do emerge when making music together -- this has now been demonstrated by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. The scientists used electrodes to trace the brain waves of guitarists playing in duets. They also observed substantial differences in the musicians' brain activity, depending upon whether musicians were leading or following their companion.
Two musicians are playing a duet. With the
help of the electrodes attached to their heads, scientists measure the brain
activity of the guitarists. (Credit: Johanna Sänger / MPI for Human
Development)
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To test this hypothesis, the psychologists
assigned 32 experienced guitarists to 16 duet pairs and attached 64 electrodes
to each of the musicians' heads. This enabled the scientists to record the
activity of the brain waves over different regions across the entire head.
Then, the musicians were asked to play a rondo sequence from the Sonata in G
major by Christian Gottlieb Scheidler a total of 60 times. Importantly, the two
duet partners were given slightly different tasks: They had to play in two
voices, and one of the two was assigned a leading role, ensuring that they both
started at the same time and were keeping the same tempo.
The difference between leader and follower was
reflected in the electrical activity captured by the electrodes: "In the
player taking the lead, synchronization of brain waves measured at a single
electrode was stronger, and already present before to the duet started to
play," says Johanna Sänger, the first author of the study. This was
particularly true for delta waves, which are located in the frequency range
below four Hertz. "This could be a reflection of the leading player's
decision to begin playing," Sänger thinks.
The scientists also analysed the coherence
between the signals from different electrodes attached to the duets' heads. The
result was remarkable: When the musicians had to actively coordinate their
playing, that is especially at the beginning of a sequence, the signals from
frontal and central electrodes were clearly associated -- not only within the
head of one player, but also between the heads of the duet partners.
"When people coordinate
actions with one another, small networks within the brain and, remarkably,
between the brains are formed, especially when the activities need to be
precisely aligned in time, for example at the joint play onset of a
piece," says Johanna Sänger.
The current data thus indicate that interbrain
networks connect areas of both brains that previously have been associated with
social cognition and music production. And such interbrain networks are
expected to occur not only while performing music. "We assume that
different people's brain waves also synchronise when people mutually coordinate
their actions in other ways, such as during sport, or when they communicate
with one another," Sänger says.
Originally Published Nov. 29, 2012 in Science Daily
Story Source: The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference: Johanna Sänger, Viktor Müller, Ulman Lindenberger. Intra- and interbrain synchronization and network properties when playing guitar in duets. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2012; 6 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00312
Story Source: The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference: Johanna Sänger, Viktor Müller, Ulman Lindenberger. Intra- and interbrain synchronization and network properties when playing guitar in duets. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 2012; 6 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00312
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