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

Experiment IV 145
-1.93 μV, SEM = 0.29 μV; mean of all participants) compared to the left hemisphere
(M= -1.60 μV, SEM = 0.27 μV). The amplitudes in the posterior ROIs are much
smaller (left: M= -0.56 μV, SEM = 0.18 μV; right: M= -0.75 μV, SEM = 0.18 μV).
The amplitudes in the musically trained children were considerably larger than those in
the children without musical training: In the anterior ROIs, the amplitudes in the MT
group were more than twice as large (left: M= -2.31 μV, SEM = 0.39 μV; right: M=
-2.75 μV, SEM = 0.45 μV) than in the NM group (left: M= -0.88 μV, SEM = 0.36 μV;
right: M= -1.11 μV, SEM = 0.36 μV). This can also be seen in Figure 12-3 (left upper
panel). The ERAN had a scalp distribution with a maximum peak at right-anterior scalp
sites (see Figure 12-2). It can be clearly observed that the amplitude in the group of MT
children was much larger than the amplitude in the group of NM children.
These differences were tested for their statistical significance in an ANOVA with the
within-subject factors syntactic regularity, anterior-posterior distribution, hemisphere,
and attention and the between-subjects factor subgroup. The results are summarized in
Table 12-2 (column 1). It revealed a main effect of syntactic regularity, an interaction of
syntactic regularity × subgroup, an interaction of syntactic regularity × anteriorposterior
distribution, and an interaction of syntactic regularity × hemisphere. This indicates
that an ERAN was found in both groups, but more pronounced in the MT group. It
was most prominent over anterior scalp sites and the right hemisphere. Planned comparisons
with user-defined contrasts were employed to further investigate, firstly, in
which ROI the ERAN was significant for both groups, and, secondly, in which ROI the
ERAN was significantly larger in the MT group compared to the NM group. The ERAN
had a relatively broad distribution and was, when both groups are considered, significant
in all four ROIs (left-anterior: F(1,39) = 35.55, p < 0.001; right-anterior: F(1,39) =
44.70, p < 0.001; left-posterior: F(1,39) = 9.72, p = 0.003; right-posterior: F(1,39) = 17.81,
p < 0.001). In the left-anterior (F(1,39) = 7.06, p = 0.011), the right-anterior (F(1,39) = 8.03,
p = 0.007), and the right-posterior ROI (F(1,39) = 6.04, p = 0.019) its amplitude was significantly
larger in the MT group compared to the NM group.
An ANOVA with the same within-subject factors as above was computed for each subgroup
separately to investigate if an ERAN was present in either group. As expected, in
both groups a main effect of syntactic regularity (MT: F(1,20) = 37.71, p < 0.001; NM:
F(1,19) = 8.11, p = 0.010), and an interaction of syntactic regularity × region were found
(MT: F(1,20) = 18.32, p < 0.001; NM: F(1,19) = 5.13, p = 0.035). This reflects a significant
amplitude difference between supertonics and tonics that was stronger at anterior sites
in both groups. Planned comparisons revealed a significant ERAN amplitude in all four
ROIs in the MT group (left-anterior: F(1,20) = 34.42, p < 0.001; right-anterior: F(1,20) =
37.45, p < 0.001; left-posterior: F(1,20) = 8.33, p = 0.009; right- posterior: F(1,20) = 18.04,