Imagining a song triggers similar brain activity as moments of silence in music, according to a pair of just-published studies.
The results collectively reveal how the brain continues responding to music, even when none is playing, and provide new insights into how human sensory predictions work.
Music is more than a sensory experience
When we listen to music, the brain attempts to predict what comes next. A surprise, such as a loud note or disharmonious chord, increases brain activity.
To isolate the brain’s prediction signal from the signal produced in response to the actual sensory experience, researchers used electroencephalograms (EEGs) to measure the brain activity of musicians while they listened to or imagined Bach piano melodies.
When imagining music, the musicians’ brain activity had the opposite electrical polarity to when they listened to it – indicating different brain activations – but the same type of activity as for imagery occurred in silent moments of the songs when people would have expected a note but there wasn’t one.
