Prefrontal activation related to spontaneous creativity with rock music improvisation: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

Tachibana, Atsumichi; Noah, J. Adam; Ono, Yumie; Taguchi, Daisuke; Ueda, Shuichi · 2019 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-52348-6

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Summary

This study investigates the neural mechanisms underlying spontaneous creativity during musical improvisation, specifically focusing on prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation in rock guitarists. Previous research using fMRI on jazz pianists and rap vocalists suggested that improvisation involves decreased activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and increased activity in the medial frontal lobe, reflecting a shift from executive control to default mode networks. However, fMRI environments are restrictive and may not capture naturalistic performance. This study aimed to test the generalizability of this framework across different musical genres and skill levels using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which allows for more naturalistic interaction with instruments. Twenty guitarists of varying skill levels performed improvised and formulaic sequences in a blues-rock format while their brain activity was recorded via fNIRS. The experimental design controlled for motor behavior, ensuring no significant difference in string-picking frequency between conditions. The researchers analyzed hemodynamic responses in specific PFC regions: the frontopolar cortex (BA10/11) and the DLPFC (BA9 and BA46). They compared activity during improvised play against formulaic play and baseline, and conducted detailed temporal analyses by dividing tasks into 10-second bins to observe changes in cognitive processing over time. Additionally, they correlated neural activity with subjective feelings of improvisational performance, measured via a post-experimental questionnaire. The results confirmed similar modulation in the DLPFC as seen in previous studies, with significant decreases in left DLPFC (BA46) activity toward the end of improvised sequences compared to the beginning or middle. While both improvised and formulaic tasks elicited significant activity versus baseline, the contrast between conditions revealed distinct temporal patterns. Specifically, deoxyhemoglobin responses in the left BA46 showed significant differences between time bins during improvisation. Crucially, the study found a significant correlation between subjective feelings of improvisational performance and modulation in the left DLPFC, regardless of the participants' skill level, age, or practice history. No such correlations were found for other demographic or skill-based variables. These findings suggest that the neural framework of decreased DLPFC activity during improvisation is generalizable to rock guitar performance and applies across a wide range of musician expertise. The correlation between subjective creative experience and left DLPFC modulation implies that the processing of subjective feelings may be a key factor in understanding neural activity during improvisation, independent of technical skill. The study supports the hypothesis that improvisation involves a dynamic balance of neural processes, where the inhibition of conscious monitoring in the DLPFC facilitates spontaneous creative behavior. By using fNIRS, the researchers demonstrated that naturalistic settings can reveal temporal granularities in neural responses that may be missed in traditional fMRI studies, offering new insights into the cognitive neuroscience of creativity.

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• music audio mood