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Erschienen in:
17.07.2017 | Original Article
Familiarity affects electrocortical power spectra during dance imagery, listening to different music genres: independent component analysis of Alpha and Beta rhythms
Erschienen in: Sport Sciences for Health | Ausgabe 3/2017
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Background
Changes in electrocortical activity during motor imagery are among the most interesting findings in the recent neuroscientific studies; existing studies, however, do not focus specifically on Alpha and Beta rhythms, in relationship with the motor experience and verifying if the style of music can influence the cortical activity during motor imagery task. Power spectra analysis was used to compare the EEG activity during dance imagery tasks in a group of dancers and in a control group.
Methods
Twenty-one volunteers performed a dance imagery task listening to three kinds of music. For EEG acquisition an 8-channel headset with wireless amplifier was used. This study used independent component analysis (ICA) to assess EEG frequency spectrum associated with the musical genre. High Alpha (10.0–11.5 Hz) and Low Beta (12.0–15.5 Hz) EEG frequency spectra were analyzed. Considering EEG power spectra analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between groups at baseline.
Results
Statistically significant difference (p < 0.01) emerged comparingthe two groups, during dance imagery task, listening to Classical, Rock and Waltz music, in High Alpha band; whereas listening to Classical music in Low Beta band. Expert group showed a greater power level with respect to control group for both bands. No statistically significant difference emerged in EEG power spectrum, comparing the three kinds of music, for both groups (intra-group analysis). Findings are comparable with previous studies obtained by other neuroimaging modalities, highlighting how high-resolution EEG may prove to be a promising tool for measuring cortex electrical activity during motor imagery. This study successfully applied ICA to decompose the EEG segments recorded during the tasks, finding consistent independent brain processes across multiple subjects.
Conclusions
The statistically significant differences between expert dancers and controls, could indicate a difference in the attentional effort during the dance imagery task. The remarks partially confirm existing findings on the relationship among EEG activity, Alpha rhythm and motor imagery and also extend the knowledge on the EEG response to auditory stimuli during motor imagery in particular for Beta rhythm components, emphasizing specific characteristics in function of the level of familiarity to the dance imagery task.