Creative tempo: Spatiotemporal dynamics of the default mode network in improvisational musicians
Harrison Watters, Abia Fazili, Lauren Daley, Alex Belden, TJ LaGrow, Taylor Bolt, Psyche Loui, Shella Keilholz
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study |
|---|---|
| Population | Musicians grouped as classical, improvisational, or minimally trained non-musicians |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | Both QPP detection methods converged at the group level, showing increased dynamic functional correlation in improvisational musicians between the default mode network and visual networks, and between the default mode network and frontoparietal network. An unexpected increase in connectivity between the dorsal attention network and amygdala also appeared in improvisational musicians, which the authors note was not reported in the original seed-based study of this dataset. |
Abstract
Abstract The intrinsic dynamics of human brain activity display a recurring pattern of anti-correlated activity between the default mode network (DMN), associated with internal processing and mentation, and task positive regions, associated with externally directed attention. In human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, this anti-correlated pattern is detectable on the infraslow timescale (<0.1 Hz) as a quasi-periodic pattern (QPP). While the DMN is implicated in creativity and musicality in traditional time-averaged functional connectivity studies, no one has yet explored how creative training may alter dynamic spatiotemporal patterns involving the DMN such as QPPs. In the present study, we compare the outputs of two QPP detection approaches, sliding window algorithm and complex principal components analysis (cPCA). We apply both methods to an existing dataset of musicians captured with resting state fMRI, grouped as either classical, improvisational, or minimally trained non-musicians. The original time-averaged functional connectivity (FC) analysis of this dataset used improvisation as a proxy for creative thinking and found that the DMN and visual networks (VIS) display higher connectivity in improvisational musicians. We expand upon this dataset’s original study and find that QPP analysis detects convergent results at the group level with both methods. In improvisational musicians, dynamic functional correlation in the group-averaged QPP was found to be increased between the DMN-VIS and DMN-FPN for both the QPP algorithm and complex principal components analysis (cPCA) methods. Additionally, we found an unexpected increase in FC in the group-averaged QPP between the dorsal attention network and amygdala in improvisational musicians; this result was not reported in the original seed-based study of this dataset. The current study represents a novel application of two dynamic FC detection methods with results that replicate and expand upon previous seed-based FC findings. The results show the robustness of both the QPP phenomenon and its detection methods. This study also demonstrates the value of dynamic FC methods in reproducing seed-based findings and their promise in detecting group-wise or individual differences that may be missed by traditional seed-based resting state fMRI studies.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A default mode of brain function Normal adult human brain | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Resting-State Functional Connectivity Reflects Structural Connectivity in the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational cohort | |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| The precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex plays a pivotal role in the default mode network: Evidence from a partial correlation network analysis Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- The Brain's Default Mode Network Annual Review of Neuroscience May 4, 2015
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis Neuron May 10, 2023
- The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world Nature Reviews Neuroscience January 22, 2021
- Sleep deprivation reduces default mode network connectivity and anti-correlation during rest and task performance Neuroimage August 19, 2011
and 2 more in the library