The neural bases of familiar music listening in healthy individuals: An Activation Likelihood Estimation meta-analysis

Accumulating evidence suggests that the neural activations during music listening differs as a function of familiarity with the excerpts. However, the implicated brain areas are unclear. After an extensive literature search, we conducted an Activation Likelihood Estimation analysis on 23 neuroimaging studies (232 foci, 364 participants) to identify consistently activated brain regions when healthy adults listen to familiar music, compared to unfamiliar music or an equivalent condition. The results revealed a left cortical-subcortical co-activation pattern comprising three significant clusters localized to the supplementary motor areas (BA 6), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG, BA 44), and the claustrum/insula. Our results are discussed in a predictive coding framework, whereby temporal expectancies and familiarity may drive motor activations, despite any overt movement. Though conventionally associated with syntactic violation, our observed activation in the IFG may support a recent proposal of its involvement in a network that subserves both violation and prediction. Finally, the claustrum/insula plays an integral role in auditory processing, functioning as a hub that integrates sensory and limbic information to (sub)cortical structures.