A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Focal Brain Lesions Causing Acquired Amusia Map to a Common Brain Network
Authors: Sihvonen Aleksi J., Ferguson Michael A., Chen Vicky, Soinila Seppo, Särkämö Teppo, Joutsa Juho
Publisher: Society of Neuroscience
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Journal of Neuroscience
Journal name in source: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Journal acronym: J Neurosci
Article number: e1922232024
Volume: 44
Issue: 15
ISSN: 0270-6474
eISSN: 1529-2401
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1922-23.2024
Web address : https://www.jneurosci.org/content/44/15/e1922232024
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/387719781
Music is a universal human attribute. The study of amusia, a neurologic music processing deficit, has increasingly elaborated our view on the neural organization of the musical brain. However, lesions causing amusia occur in multiple brain locations and often also cause aphasia, leaving the distinct neural networks for amusia unclear. Here, we utilized lesion network mapping to identify these networks. A systematic literature search was carried out to identify all published case reports of lesion-induced amusia. The reproducibility and specificity of the identified amusia network were then tested in an independent prospective cohort of 97 stroke patients (46 female and 51 male) with repeated structural brain imaging, specifically assessed for both music perception and language abilities. Lesion locations in the case reports were heterogeneous but connected to common brain regions, including bilateral temporoparietal and insular cortices, precentral gyrus, and cingulum. In the prospective cohort, lesions causing amusia mapped to a common brain network, centering on the right superior temporal cortex and clearly distinct from the network causally associated with aphasia. Lesion-induced longitudinal structural effects in the amusia circuit were confirmed as reduction of both gray and white matter volume, which correlated with the severity of amusia. We demonstrate that despite the heterogeneity of lesion locations disrupting music processing, there is a common brain network that is distinct from the language network. These results provide evidence for the distinct neural substrate of music processing, differentiating music-related functions from language, providing a testable target for noninvasive brain stimulation to treat amusia.
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