Effects of veridical expectations on syntax processing in music: Event-related potential evidence

Numerous past studies have investigated neurophysiological correlates of music-syntactic processing. However, only little is known about how prior knowledge about an upcoming syntactically irregular event modulates brain correlates of music-syntactic processing. Two versions of a short chord sequence were presented repeatedly to non-musicians (n = 20) and musicians (n = 20). One sequence version ended on a syntactically regular chord and the other one ended on a syntactically irregular chord. Participants were either informed (cued condition), or not informed (non-cued condition) about whether the sequence would end on the regular or the irregular chord. Results indicate that in the cued condition (compared to the non-cued condition) the peak latency of the early right anterior negativity (ERAN), elicited by irregular chords, was earlier in both non-musicians and musicians. However, the expectations due to the knowledge about the upcoming event (veridical expectations) did not influence the amplitude of the ERAN. These results suggest that veridical expectations modulate only the speed, but not the principle mechanisms, of music-syntactic processing.