Enhanced phase synchrony in the electroencephalograph gamma band for musicians while listening to music - art. no. 012902

Multichannel electroencephalograph signals from two broad groups, 10 musici ans and 10 nonmusicians, recorded in different states tin resting states or no task condition, with eyes opened and eyes closed, and with two musical tasks, listening to two different pieces of music) were studied. Degrees of phase synchrony in various frequency bands were assessed. No differences i n the degree of synchronization in any frequency band were found between th e two groups in resting conditions. Yet, while listening to music, signific ant increases of synchronization were found only in the gamma -frequency ra nge(>30 Hz) over large cortical areas for the group of musicians. This high degree of synchronization elicited by music in the group of musicians migh t be due to their ability to host long-term memory representations of music and mediate access to these stored representations.