Musical memories in newborns: A resting‐state functional connectivity study

Abstract

Music is known to induce emotions and activate associated memories, including musical memories. In adults, it is well known that music activates both working memory and limbic networks. We have recently discovered that as early as during the newborn period, familiar music is processed differently from unfamiliar music. The present study evaluates music listening effects at the brain level in newborns, by exploring the impact of familiar or first‐time music listening on the subsequent resting‐state functional connectivity in the brain. Using a connectome‐based framework, we describe resting‐state functional connectivity (RS‐FC) modulation after music listening in three groups of newborn infants, in preterm infants exposed to music during their neonatal‐intensive‐care‐unit (NICU) stay, in control preterm, and full‐term infants. We observed modulation of the RS‐FC between brain regions known to be implicated in music and emotions processing, immediately following music listening in all newborn infants. In the music exposed group, we found increased RS‐FC between brain regions known to be implicated in familiar and emotionally arousing music and multisensory processing, and therefore implying memory retrieval and associative memory. We demonstrate a positive correlation between the occurrence of the prior music exposure and increased RS‐FC in brain regions implicated in multisensory and emotional processing, indicating strong engagement of musical memories; and a negative correlation with the Default Mode Network, indicating disengagement due to the aforementioned cognitive processing. Our results describe the modulatory effect of music listening on brain RS‐FC that can be linked to brain correlates of musical memory engrams in preterm infants.

Music impacts brain cortical microstructural maturation in very preterm infants: A longitudinal diffusion MR imaging study

“…There is also evidence suggesting that music training could lead to a significant reorganization of insula-based networks, potentially facilitating high-level cognitive and affective functions ( Zamorano et al, 2017 ). Moreover, very preterm infants exposed to the similar music intervention, when re-listening to the music at term-equivalent age during the MRI acquisition, also revealed an increased functional connectivity between the right temporal pole and the left superior parietal gyrus and left thalamus, as well as between the right orbitofrontal region and the right postcentral gyrus, and also between the right amygdala and the right thalamus; regions implicated in music, multisensory and emotional processing ( Loukas et al, 2022 ).…”

Identification of biopsychological trait markers in functional neurological disorders

“…We used the publicly available PLS toolbox for MATLAB ( https://github.com/FND-ResearchGroup/myPLS_SL.git ), the use of which has already been described in other studies. 59 , 60 …”

Effects of music therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit

“…Recent studies have shown that newborns (NB) who are exposed to some kind of music during the final period of gestation (29 to 37 weeks) react better, because although the cortex of the NB is immature, at birth, it is capable of processing music (LOUKAS et al, 2022;ORMSTON et al, 2022).…”