Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan

Experiment II 118
Some theoretical accounts to SLI assume general processing limitations. Such limitations
may lead to difference in general intelligence. Thus, we computed correlations of
the amplitudes of ERAN and N5 with the subtests of a non-verbal intelligence test. The
subtests “hand movements” and “spatial memory” correlated significantly with the
amplitude of the ERAN. For the N5 amplitude, correlations were found with the subtests
“triangles” and “spatial memory”. Again, this might be taken as evidence for the
importance of working memory functions and (at least for “hand movements”) the ability
to process and store ordered sequences, which can be relevant for these tests as well
as for the processing of structure in music and language.
In this experiment, a characteristic pattern of results was observed: whereas an ERAN
and an N5 were found in the group of children with TLD, these ERP responses were not
found in the group of children with SLI. To investigate whether this pattern could be
used to assign the children to their group based on their amplitude values, a linear discriminant
analysis was used with the ERAN and the N5 amplitudes as variables (for the
mean of the anterior ROIs). Since the N5 amplitude did not increase the amount of
correct classifications, only the amplitude of the ERAN was used as predictor variable.
2
With a significant canonical discriminant function (Wilks Λ = 0.682; χ = 12.45, p <
0.001), 18 of the 20 participants in the TLD group and 9 of the 15 participants in the
SLI group were correctly classified (77.1% of all participants).
10.4 Discussion
The present experiment evaluated the processing of musical syntax in children with
TLD and children with SLI. An ERAN and an N5 in response to an irregular compared
to a regular chord were found in 5-year old children with TLD. A comparable pattern of
ERP components is observed as neural correlates of processing musical structure in
adults (e.g., Koelsch et al., 2000). This indicates that 5-year old children utilize comparable
neural mechanisms for these processes as adults. However, compared to adults,
the latency of the ERAN was delayed, which replicates finding from earlier studies
(Koelsch et al., 2003).
Notably, the elicitation of ERAN and N5 is due to the processing of a music-syntactic
(not of a physical) irregularity. Tonics and supertonics are very similar in their acoustic
properties (i.e., with regards to pitch repetition, roughness, and pitch commonality with
the directly preceding chord; see Koelsch et al., 2007). Supertonics were acoustically
even more similar to pitch representation of the preceding chords in the echoic memory
(Figure Figure 9-1D): The supertonic is the more expected chord from an acoustical
point of view whereas, at the same time, it is harmonically irregular and violated the
( 1)