Schaal, Nora K; Williamson, Victoria J; Kelly, Maria; Muggleton, Neil G.; Pollok, Bettina; Krause, Vanessa and Banissy, Michael J.. 2015. A causal involvement of the left supramarginal gyrus during the retention of musical pitches. Cortex, 64, pp. 310-7. ISSN 0010-9452 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Brain stimulation studies have previously demonstrated a causal link between general pitch memory processes and activity within the left supramarginal gyrus (SMG). Building on this evidence, the present study tested the impact of left SMG stimulation on two distinct pitch memory phases, retention and encoding. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was employed during the retention stage (Experiment 1) and the encoding phase (Experiment 2) of a pitch recognition task. Stimulation was applied on a trial-by-trial basis over the left SMG (target site) or the vertex (control site). A block without TMS was also completed. In Experiment 1, rTMS over the left SMG during pitch retention led to significantly increased reaction times compared to control conditions. In Experiment 2 no rTMS modulation effects were found during encoding. Experiment 3 was conducted as a control for non-specific stimulation effects; no effects were found when rTMS was applied over the left SMG at the two different time points during a perceptual task. Taken together, these findings highlight a phase-specific involvement of the left SMG in the retention phase of pitch memory, thereby indicating that the left SMG is involved in the maintenance of pitch information.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.11.011
Additional Information:	The work was supported by grants from the DAAD and G.A. Lienert Stiftung awarded to NKS. VJW was supported by a Vice Chancellor's Fellowship from the University of Sheffield. MJB was supported by grants from the British Academy [pf100123] and ESRC [ES/K00882X/1]. NGM was supported by the National Science Council, Taiwan. [NSC-100-2410-H-008-074-MY3 and NSC-102-2410-H-008-021-MY3].
Keywords:	Pitch memory; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Retention; Left supramarginal gyrus
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event March 2015 Published
Item ID:	11467
Date Deposited:	17 Apr 2015 13:15
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2017 13:03
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/11467

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