Impaired Naming of Famous Musical Melodies is Associated with Left Temporal Polar Damage

Abstract

Objective: Previous research has shown that damage to the left temporal pole (LTP) is associated with impaired retrieval of words for unique entities, including names of famous people and landmarks. However, it is not known whether retrieving names for famous melodies is associated with the LTP. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that damage to the LTP would be associated with impaired naming of famous musical melodies.

Method: A Melody Naming Test was administered to patients with LTP damage, brain damaged comparison (BDC) patients, and normal comparison participants (NC). The test included various well-known melodies (e.g., "Pop Goes the Weasel"). After hearing each melody, participants were asked to rate their familiarity with the melody and identify it by name.

Results: LTP patients named significantly fewer melodies than BDC and NC participants. Recognition of melodies did not differ significantly between groups.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that LTP supports retrieval of names for famous melodies. More broadly, these results extend support for the theoretical notion that LTP is important for retrieving proper names for unique concepts, irrespectively of stimulus modality or category.

Department(s)

Psychological Science

Keywords and Phrases

Left Temporal Pole; Music; Naming

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0894-4105

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2014 American Psychological Association (APA), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 2014

PubMed ID

24364392

Link to Full Text

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