Revisiting top-down and bottom-up multi-modal brain processes: a systematic review and ALE meta-analysis of musical studies

• Published in: bioRxiv
• Main Authors: Pando-Naude, Victor, Patyczek, Agata, Bonetti, Leonardo, Vuust, Peter
• Format: Paper
• Language: English
• Published: Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 27.04.2021
• Subjects: Auditory perception; Cingulum; Information processing; Music; Neuroimaging; Sensorimotor system; Sensory integration
• DOI: 10.1101/2021.04.26.441417

The most remarkable feature of the human brain is perhaps its ability to constantly integrate information from the environment with internal representations to decide the best action. The integration of top-down and bottom-up processes during complex multi-modal human activities, however, is yet to be understood. Music provides an excellent model for understanding this since music listening leads to the urge to move, and music making entails both playing and listening at the same time (i.e. audio-motor coupling). Here, we conducted activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analyses of 130 neuroimaging studies of music perception, production and imagery, with 2660 foci, 139 experiments, and 2516 participants. We found that music perception relies on auditory cortices, music production involves sensorimotor cortices, and music imagery recruits cingulum. This indicates that the brain requires distinct structures to process information which is made available either by the environment (i.e. bottom-up, music perception) or by internal representations (i.e. top-down, music production and imagery). Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.