For the first time, scientists identify a neural population highly selective for music.

Music in the brain


For the first time, scientists identify a neural population highly selective for music.

Illustration: Christine Daniloff/MIT

Scientists have long wondered if the human brain contains neural mechanisms specific to music perception. Now, for the first time, MIT neuroscientists have identified a neural population in the human auditory cortex that responds selectively to sounds that people typically categorize as music, but not to speech or other environmental sounds.