The Intricate Relationship Between Music, Language, and the Brain

A study conducted at UTHealth Houston using direct brain recordings during an awake craniotomy on a young musician revealed shared temporal lobe activity for both music and language. However, when complexity increased in melodies or grammar, different brain regions showed distinct sensitivities. The posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG) was found to be crucial for both music perception and production as well as speech production, with pSTG activity modulated by syntactic complexity, and posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG) activity modulated by musical complexity. This research provides insights into how small parts assemble into larger structures in the neurobiology of music and language.