Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Piano experience and brain activity during improvisation. A, 3D scatter plot showing the age, improvisational piano experience (Imphours), and classical piano experience (Classhours) of each participant. B, Negative associations between brain activity and improvisational training. The clusters represent regions for which there was a significant between-participant negative association between brain activity during improvisation and number of hours of improvisation experience. C, Brain activity and improvisation experience for individual conditions. The plot shows, for all four individual conditions (tonal, atonal, happy, and fearful), the semipartial correlation between brain activity (BOLD percentage signal change in Improvisation − Rest) in the right angular gyrus (red circle in B) and Imphours after partialling out the effects of age and Classhours on the latter variable.
- Figure 2.
Positive correlations between improvisational training and functional connectivity. Associations between functional connectivity and improvisational training are illustrated schematically for all seed regions. The red circles indicate the location of the seeds. Green circles represent regions for which a significant between-subject correlation was found between improvisational training and the strength of the functional connectivity with the seed. For each involved region, only the cluster with the highest peak activation is illustrated. The thickness of the connecting lines represents the strength of the effect (thin: t value 5–6; middle: t value 6–7; thick: t value > 7). The scatterplots show activity (% BOLD response) in the right SMA as a function of activity in the right PMD during improvisation (red dots) and rest (blue dots) for the participant with the longest (left) and shortest (right) improvisation experience. The increase in functional connectivity during improvisation, compared with rest, is higher for the participant with longer experience, which is illustrated by a greater increase in slope of the ordinary least-squares fitted regression line for improvisation (red) compared with rest (blue).
- Figure 3.
Anatomical relation between training effects on activity and training effects on connectivity. Regions where improvisation experience was related to lower activity (blue) were nonoverlapping with regions showing increased functional connectivity (red). Connectivity effects from all seed regions are displayed.
Tables
- Table 1.
Associations between brain activity during improvisation, improvisation experience, and age
Region Side Coordinatesa Voxel levelb Cluster levelc x y z t p p kE Improvisation (negative) AG Right 44 −61 52 5.98 0.008 — — DLPFC Right 48 38 30 — — 0.035 1322 Insula Right 33 18 1 — — 0.039 1273 IFG Right 39 50 −6 — — 0.028 1419 Age (positive) AG Right 48 −54 40 — — 0.035 1325 DLPFC Right 51 33 25 5.43 0.033 0.025 1459 IFG Right 44 48 −17 5.38 0.037 0.004 2295 - Table 2.
Brain regions for which there was a positive association between improvisation experience and the functional connectivity during improvisation
Seed Side Region Side Coordinatesa Voxel levelbt Cluster size kE x y z DLPFC Right PMD/SFG Right 26 11 69 5.81 13 Cerebellum Right 6 −49 −36 5.49 33 SMA/PreCG Right 14 −15 78 5.25 7 Left PMD/SFG Right 26 11 69 6.37 93 SMA/FL Right 12 −16 78 6.34 39 ITG Left −48 −49 −21 5.68 90 ITG Right 46 −34 −24 5.38 23 ITG Right 48 −49 −23 5.26 70 PMD Right SMA/FL Right 10 −13 78 9.55 186 Cerebellum Right 54 −67 −30 7.59 1569 M1/CSc Right 51 −18 62 7.07 301 Cerebellum Right 6 −52 −39 7.0 272 M1/CSd Right 63 −7 40 6.73 284 DLPFC/MFG Left −36 45 36 6.54 113 SPL Right 15 −48 78 6.4 255 IPL Left −50 −55 54 6.31 96 PMD/PreCG Left −52 3 49 6.03 53 Precuneus/SPL Left −6 −60 69 6.01 42 M1/PreCG Left −34 −10 70 5.93 130 MTG Left −69 −19 −20 5.75 14 Cerebellum Right 9 −90 −38 5.72 22 Cerebellum Right 18 −60 −18 5.65 45 SMG Left −68 −28 31 5.63 32 Cerebellum Left −16 −67 −21 5.52 38 Cerebellum Right 14 −78 −42 5.51 68 M1/CS Left −24 −27 75 5.46 4 M1/ParaCL Left −14 −24 78 5.42 5 S1/PostCG Right 30 −31 45 5.41 16 ITG Right 45 −25 −20 5.4 28 M1/PreCG Left −45 −15 63 5.36 15 ITG Right 46 −19 −14 5.25 4 Left M1/CSd Right 63 −7 40 7.35 127 M1/CSc Right 52 −15 58 7.17 112 PMD/SFG Right 30 12 66 6.85 88 SMG Left −68 −30 31 5.75 50 SMA/FL Right 10 −13 78 5.57 13 SPL Right 21 −46 76 5.37 11 PreSMA Right SMA/PreCG Right 14 −15 78 7.18 79 PMD/SFG Right 26 11 69 7.15 126 M1/CSc Right 51 −18 62 7.02 316 M1/CSd Right 63 −7 40 6.69 288 DLPFC/MFG Left −36 45 36 6.07 71 IPL Left −46 −57 55 5.95 53 SMG Left −68 −30 31 5.8 89 Cerebellum Right 54 −67 −30 5.78 52 STG Left −69 −37 12 5.69 21 Cerebellum Right 3 −49 −39 5.68 91 ITG Right 48 −28 −23 5.54 37 PostCG Right 20 −46 76 5.54 19 M1/PreCG Left −28 −21 73 5.4 14 ITG Right 52 −51 −18 5.35 38 PMD/PreCG Left −52 5 48 5.3 4 Left IPL Left −48 −57 54 5.75 66 SMG Left −68 −28 31 5.72 40 DLPFC/MFG Left −39 42 34 5.39 10 CS, central sulcus; FL, frontal lobe; IPL, inferior parietal lobe; ITG, inferior temporal gyrus; M1, primary motor cortex; MFG, middle frontal gyrus; MTG, middle temporal gyrus; ParaCL, paracentral lobule; PMD, dorsal premotor region; PMV, ventral premotor region; PostCG, postcentral gyrus; PreCG, precentral gyrus; S1, primary somatosensory cortex; SFG, superior frontal gyrus; SMA, supplementary motor area; SPL, superior parietal lobe; STG, superior temporal gyrus; SMG, supramarginal gyrus.
↵aCoordinates in millimeters in the Montreal Neurological Institute space.
↵bVoxel-level familywise error rate, corrected p = 0.05.
↵cThe cluster extended into the PreCG.
↵dThe cluster extended into the PMV/PreCG.
