Familiarization of music modulates functional connectivity between frontal and parietal/temporal areas in the theta and alpha bands

Abstract

Frequent listening to unfamiliar music excerpts converges functional connectivity in the brain as music becomes familiar and memorable. Nonetheless, previous neuroimaging and electroencephalography (EEG) studies have yet to determine where and when these connections arise in the brain during familiarization. This study investigates electrophysiological changes in functional connectivity recorded by EEG from twenty participants’ brains during self-assessment familiarization with initially unknown classical music excerpts via three times passive listening. Connectivity between all pairwise combinations of EEG electrodes is evaluated across all repetitions via repeated measures ANOVA and between every two repetitions of listening to unknown music with the weighted phase lag index (WPLI) method in different frequency bins and bands. The results of the WPLI method indicate an increased coupling during gradual familiarization between the frontal and parietal areas in the theta band, especially at 7 Hz. In addition, the increased functional coupling is discovered during music familiarization between the frontal and temporal areas at the low-alpha band. Moreover, during listening to music, whether familiar or unfamiliar, robust functional connectivity between the frontal and parietal areas occurs in the alpha band compared to other bands, regardless of the number of repetitions and familiarization. Overall, this study revealed that repeated listening to music activates specific functional connectivity in the brain: familiarization increases bi-spectral functional connections between the frontal and parietal areas at the theta band and between the frontal and temporal areas at the low-alpha band.