The brain activity is synchronized duo guitarists even when playing different notes. Frontiers in Neuroscience magazine this week published a study that, after analyzing the brain activity of musicians, demonstrates the existence of a neural basis for musical coordination.
Social interaction is an essential ingredient in human life, and that minds and brains work in interaction with each other. Such coordination of individual behavior with a partner requires a perception, representation and anticipation of the shares of each of the people interacting.
A group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin has shown that the synchronization between multiple brains arises when creating music together, even when the musicians play different ‘voices’ of the same part. The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
In 2009, scientists discovered the very center synchronization between brains of musicians who played the same part. The current study goes one step further and examines the brain activity of the guitar while playing music in which there are two different parts.
The results have shown that the brain activity of each musician experienced oscillations were coordinated, even when playing different notes of the same duet. This synchronization – known as ‘phase coherence’ – suggests the existence of a direct neural base which allows for interpersonal and musical timing.
The scientists looked at 32 -16 duets-guitarists who volunteered for the job. They were asked to reproduce a sequence of “Sonata in G Major” by Christian Gottlieb Scheidler, a total of 60 times. Each musician had to play a different voice, and one of the two-the-leader was responsible to begin at once and take the same tempo. So, the other followed.
Also measured brain activity using electrodes and musicians were able to estimate the synchronization between the members of the duet. They used a device that transforms data into EEG signals in time and frequency up to 20 Hz (hertz).
In general, when people coordinate their actions form small networks between brain regions. This time, the study authors observed “similar structures between the brains of musicians, especially in times when coordination is vital, for example, in a joint appearance of a piece of music,” they say.
In addition, differences have been noted between the members of the duo that reflected in brain activity. According to scientists, “the musician who took the initiative experienced an internal synchronization of your brain very strong and, more importantly, was before the duo began”. As with the guitarists, researchers believe that possibly “brains also synchronized during other activities such as sports or establish communication between people”.
