Amusias and modularity of musical cognitive processing

ABSTRACT

In the past few years the study of music from a neuroscientific perspective has considerably improved, allowing the evolution of both theoretical knowledge and constructs related to cognitive musical processing. Both neuroimaging studies and studies of individuals who suffer from selective deficits of musical abilities have favored the construction of useful models to understand the mechanisms of musical processing, thus revealing its complexity and eliciting the hypothesis of the modular organization of music in the brain. This article reviews studies of cognitive musical processing with a focus on deficits in musical abilities and the neuropsychological model of cognitive musical processing developed by Isabelle Peretz. This model is an important contribution to neuroscientific studies of music because it furthers the understanding of selective deficits in different components of musical processing that occur in both individuals who incur brain damage and those with congenital amusia. The model also serves as theoretical support for diagnosing different types of amusia.