For the first time, MIT neuroscientists have identified a population of neurons in the human brain that lights up when we hear singing, but not other types of music.
These neurons, found in the auditory cortex, appear to respond to the specific combination of voice and music, but not to either regular speech or instrumental music. Exactly what they are doing is unknown and will require more work to uncover, the researchers say.
“The work provides evidence for relatively fine-grained segregation of function within the auditory cortex, in a way that aligns with an intuitive distinction within music,” says Sam Norman-Haignere, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Singing in the brain: MIT neuroscientists have identified a population of neurons in the human brain that respond to singing but not other types of music. https://t.co/WdhAytoE06 pic.twitter.com/CSPlgsaIkk
— Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (@MIT) February 23, 2022