WCM-Q neuromusicology research reveals secrets of human creativity

Tribune News Network Doha Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have explored the cognitive and neural basis of human creativity by monitori...

Tribune News NetworkDoha Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have explored the cognitive and neural basis of human creativity by monitoring the brain activity of a musician improvising on the ney, or Arabic flute. The research has been published in Frontiers in Psychology, a leading journal, and is the first scientific study of the neuromusicology of Middle-Eastern music.Led by Dr Ghizlane Bendriss, PhD of Neuroscience and assistant professor of biology, the team of researchers used a wireless electroencephalographic (EEG) headset to record the brainwaves of a musician as he played a total of 24 improvisations at low, medium and high tempos on the ney. Dr Bendriss designed this project after a student, Mohamed Yaghmour, demonstrated strong interest in research. Dr Bendriss gathered a complete team to mentor him for this original and first-of-its-kind study in neuromusicology. The team composed of psychology specialist Sarah Roach, biostatistics expert Padmakumari Sarada, and music educators Ibrahim Kadar and Zhivka Pesheva from Qatar Music Academy. Dr Bendriss said: “Middle Eastern Music is characterized by the use of additional microtones, resulting in a tonal-spatial system called maqam. These scales have played an important role in healing and medicine since the 10th century in the Middle East, and many theories associate the use of specific maqams with treatment of specific conditions. Unfortunately, these theories are only based on empirical observations and are not yet supported by a strong body of peer-reviewed studies. For the first time, this study explores the neural correlates of these maqams, giving us a detailed picture of their true effects on the activity of the brain and providing new insight into how they might be used for therapeutic means.”Using sophisticated computer software, the researchers compared the data from the EEG signals and observed that each maqam was characterised by a topographically unique combination of significant EEG changes, suggesting the existence of what they termed “maqam electroencephalographic signatures.” The study also provides further support to previous research that has associated musical improvisation with increased activity in the left-brain hemisphere, particularly of low-frequency brain waves in the frontal and temporal areas of the left-brain. The study also supports the observation that musical improvisation is also characterized by an increase in levels of integrated activity in both brain hemispheres at high-frequency signatures. Until now, almost all research in the field of neuromusicology has concentrated on Western music - it is believed this is the first project to use EEG data to study brain activity while improvising with Arabic maqams and while playing a Middle Eastern instrument, the ney. WCM-Q student Mohammad Yaghmour contributed to the research under the mentorship of Dr. Bendriss. The researchers found patterns in the EEG data that showed similarities in the perception of maqams with similar intervals. In common with studies of Western music, a greater incidence of high-frequency brain-waves, which are associated with negative emotions, was observed in relation to improvisations based on nahawand, which approximates to the minor scale.