ArticleCerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)2023
The human language system, including its inferior frontal component in "Broca's area," does not support music perception.
Article in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Non-literal language processing is jointly supported by the language and theory of mind networks: Evidence from a novel meta-analytic fMRI approach.Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior · 2023Pooled it
- Identifying a brain network for musical rhythm: A functional neuroimaging meta-analysis and systematic review.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Pooled it
- The cerebellum specializes for language even in the absence of contralateral neocortical inputs.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Broca's area, responsible for speech production, is regulated by lung function.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Preserved topography, lateralization, selectivity, and functional connectivity of the language network in older brains.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A language network in the individualized functional connectomes of 1199 human brains doing arbitrary tasks.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Selectivity for high-level language processing is highly localized in individual brains.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Synergistic tension among the music and lyrics of late-Romantic choral songs.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- The neurobiology of human sequential signal prediction: Insights from language, music, and mathematics.Neuroscience research · 2026Review
- A distinct set of brain areas process prosody-the melody of speech.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Multilingual Computational Models Capture a Shared Meaning Component in Brain Responses across 21 Languages.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- The auditory environment drives superior temporal sulcus depth in the neonatal period.Brain structure & function · 2025Article
- The cerebellar components of the human language network.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Core systems of music perception.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2025Review
- A two-dimensional space of linguistic representations shared across individuals.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Constructed languages are processed by the same brain mechanisms as natural languages.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Brain areas for reversible symbolic reference, a potential singularity of the human brain.eLife · 2025Article
- Implications of Stimulation Modality and Control Condition on BOLD Response: An Example From the MOUS Dataset.Neurobiology of language (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- The role of musical aspects of language in human cognition.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
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10 authors.
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Abstract
Language and music are two human-unique capacities whose relationship remains debated. Some have argued for overlap in processing mechanisms, especially for structure processing. Such claims often concern the inferior frontal component of the language system located within "Broca's area." However, others have failed to find overlap. Using a robust individual-subject fMRI approach, we examined the responses of language brain regions to music stimuli, and probed the musical abilities of individuals with severe aphasia. Across 4 experiments, we obtained a clear answer: music perception does not engage the language system, and judgments about music structure are possible even in the presence of severe damage to the language network. In particular, the language regions' responses to music are generally low, often below the fixation baseline, and never exceed responses elicited by nonmusic auditory conditions, like animal sounds. Furthermore, the language regions are not sensitive to music structure: they show low responses to both intact and structure-scrambled music, and to melodies with vs. without structural violations. Finally, in line with past patient investigations, individuals with aphasia, who cannot judge sentence grammaticality, perform well on melody well-formedness judgments. Thus, the mechanisms that process structure in language do not appear to process music, including music syntax.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.