A new proof-of-concept study published in the journal eNeuro demonstrates that researchers can successfully trace the contour of an imagined melody by decoding brain activity. By analyzing intracranial brain signals from ten epilepsy patients who silently imagined familiar children’s songs, the team from South Korea found that the brain maps musical structures using relative pitch—the up-and-down relationships between notes—rather than absolute frequencies. While individual note classification was modest at 26.7% accuracy, stringing the decoded notes together effectively reconstructed the overall rise, fall, and shape of the original melodies. Driven primarily by sound-processing and motor regions of the brain, this exploratory research could eventually pave the way for advanced tools that help individuals who cannot articulate speech reconstruct their internally generated music.
The contour of a melody
Mobile World Congress 2013 BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 25: A visitor listens to music with headphones as he tests a new HTC device during the first day of the Mobile World Congress 2013 at the Fira Gran Via complex on February 25, 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. The annual Mobile World Congress hosts some of the world's largest communication companies, with many unveiling their latest phones and gadgets. The show runs from February 25 - February 28. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) (David Ramos/Getty Images)