Changes in singing performance and fMRI activation following right temporal lobe surgery

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This study arose in the context of having to estimate risk to the musical abilities of a trained singer (patient A.M.) recommended for right anterior temporal lobectomy (RATL) to ameliorate medically intractable seizures. To date there has been no systematic investigation of reorganisation of musical functions in the presence of epileptogenic lesions, although it is well established that RATL can impair pitch processing in nonmusicians. METHODS: Using fMRI, we compared the network activated by covert singing with lyrics in A.M. before and after surgery, while taking language activation and singing expertise into consideration. Before surgery, A.M. showed lower pitch accuracy of..