Meaning, structure, and time in language and music

Journal/Book: Cah Psychol Cognitive. 1998; 17: C N R S-C R N C, 31, Chemin Joseph Alguier, 13402 Marseille Cedex 20, France. Adrsc-Assoc Diffusion Recherch es Sciences Cognitives. 921-950.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the research that we have conducted on the comparison between language and music processing using electrophysiological approaches. Language and music are compared at different levels of organization: semantic, syntactic, prosodic, on one side, and harmonic, melodic and rhythmic, on the other side. The main conclusion is that semantic processing seems to be specific to language, in that the changes recorded in the brain electrical activity are different for semantic than for any other kinds of processing. By contrast, syntactic and prosodic processing elicit some patterns of brain waves that are similar to those found for harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic processing. Furthermore, in order to directly compare language and music, experiments are reported in which we used opera, as a perfect combination of both. Results clearly showed that different patterns are found when listeners heard semantically incongruous words and congruous words sung out of tune.

Note: Article Besson M, CNRS, Crnc, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, F-13402 Marseille 20, FRANCE

Keyword(s): language; music; event-related brain potentials (ERPs); opera; BRAIN POTENTIALS; EXPECTANCY; ERP; SENTENCES; MEMORY; REPRESENTATION; ORGANIZATION; INCONGRUITY; CONTEXTS; PITCH

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