When the brain plays music: auditory–motor interactions in music perception and production

Music performance is a natural and ubiquitous human skill that requires specific and unique types of control over motor systems and perception. Current knowledge about sensory–motor interactions is highly relevant, but may not be sufficient to explain the unique demands placed on these systems by musical execution.Motor control systems relevant for music involve timing, sequencing and spatial organization. The premotor and supplementary motor cortices, cerebellum, and the basal ganglia are all implicated in these motor processes, but their precise contribution varies according to the demands of the task.Auditory processing pathways include dorsal and ventral streams, with the dorsal stream, which projects to parietal and premotor cortices, being particularly relevant for auditory-guided actions.Motor and auditory systems interact in terms of feedforward and feedback relationships. These interactions may be related to `hearing-doing' systems, analogous to the mirror-neuron system.Neuroimaging studies show that auditory and motor systems in the brain are often co-activated during music perception and performance: listening alone engages the motor system, whereas performing without feedback engages auditory systems.Ventral premotor regions are active when there is direct sensorimotor mapping (for example key press associated with a sound); dorsal premotor regions are active in relation to more abstract mappings (for example metrical organization of a rhythm).Neural circuitry mediating these sensory–motor interactions may contribute to music cognition by helping to create predictions and expectancies which music relies on for its intellectual and emotional appeal.