The Neural Correlates of Bimusicality

The presence of bimusical and multimusical processing systems is not a very well investigated topic. The current literature on music perception and cognition fails to answer the question of how people with exposure to music differing in basic elements process music. We are currently investigating this topic by selecting prototypical Indian and Western melodies that have been developed on differing scales (Western – Major, Minor; Indian – Bhairav, Todi). Listeners have to judge the tension created by syntactical violations within these melodies. Our hypothesis is that listeners are much more sensitive to violations from their own culture. Additionally, our hypothesis is that listeners with exposure to both traditions of music will show native like performance for both categories of music. Other tasks involving musical memory can also be used to test bimusical behavior.

Investigators

Anil Roy
Patrick Wong

Collaborators

Lisa Margulis (University of Arkansas)