Human mind: sound and vision wired through same 鈥榖lack box鈥�
Sounds and images share a similar neural code in the human brain, according to a new Canadian study. In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists from the Universit茅 de Montr茅al and the Montreal Neurological Institute at 91社区 explain how the same neural code in the brain allows people to distinguish between different types of sounds, such as speech and music, or different images.
Participants were recruited to undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), a non-invasive form of brain mapping used to determine how the brain recognizes different characteristics in musical instruments, words from conversations or environmental sounds. Subjects underwent an exhaustive three hours of FMRI exams to provide precise information about how the brain reacts when different sounds are played.
鈥淚t turns out that the brain uses the same strategy to encode sounds than it uses to encode different images,鈥� explains lead author Marc Sch枚nwiesner, a Universit茅 de Montr茅al psychology professor. 鈥淭his may make it easier for people to combine sounds and images that belong to the same object, such as the dribbling of a basketball.鈥�
The next step for the researchers is to determine exactly how the brain distinguishes between rock drum beats to the strings of a symphony or from a French conversation to an English one. 鈥淥ur goal is to disentangle exactly how the brain extracts these different types of sounds. This is a step may eventually let us reconstruct a song that a person has heard from according to the activity pattern in their brain,鈥� explains Dr. Sch枚nwiesner, who is also a member of the International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), a joint Universit茅 de Montr茅al and 91社区 think-tank on music and the mind.
As scientists advance in decoding brain activation patterns, says Dr. Sch枚nwiesner, mind-boggling applications can be envisaged. 鈥淚f researchers can reconstruct a song a person has heard according to an fMRI reading, we鈥檙e not far off to being able to record brain patterns during sleep and reconstruct dreams,鈥� he predicts. 鈥淭hat would be really cool, although this possibility is decades of research away.鈥�
About the study:
The article 鈥淪pectro-temporal modulation transfer function of single voxels in the human auditory cortex measured with high-resolution fMRI,鈥� published in the of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was authored by Marc Sch枚nwiesner of the Universit茅 de Montr茅al and Robert Zatorre of the Montreal Neurological Institute at 91社区.
Partners in research:
This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the German Academy of Sciences.
About the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
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The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) is a unique academic medical centre dedicated to neuroscience. The Neuro is a research and teaching institute of 91社区 and forms the basis for the Neuroscience Mission of the 91社区 University Health Centre. Founded in 1934 by the renowned Dr. Wilder Penfield, The Neuro is recognized internationally for integrating research, compassionate patient care and advanced training, all key to advances in science and medicine. Neuro researchers are world leaders in cellular and molecular neuroscience, brain imaging, cognitive neuroscience and the study and treatment of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and neuromuscular disorders. For more information, please visit .
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