Brief bursts of infrasound may improve cognitive function - an fMRI study.

Brief bursts of infrasound may improve cognitive function - an fMRI study. Hear Res. 2015 Aug 7; Authors: Weichenberger M, Kühler R, Bauer M, Hensel J, Brühl R, Ihlenfeld A, Ittermann B, Gallinat J, Koch C, Sander T, Kühn S Abstract At present, infrasound (sound frequency < 20 Hz; IS) is being controversially discussed as a potential mediator of several adverse bodily as well as psychological effects. However, it remains unclear, if and in what way IS influences cognition. Here, we conducted an fMRI experiment, in which 13 healthy participants were exposed to IS, while cognitive performance was assessed in an n-back working memory paradigm. During the task, short sinusoidal tone bursts of 12 Hz were administered monaurally with sound pressure levels that had been determined individually in a categorical loudness scaling session prior to the fMRI experiment. We found that task execution was associated with a significant activation of the prefrontal and the parietal cortex, as well as the striatum and the cerebellum, indicating the recruitment of a cognitive control network. Reverse contrast analysis (n-back with tone vs. n-back without tone) revealed a significant activation of the bilateral primary auditory cortex (Brodmann areas 41, 42). Surprisingly, we also found a strong, yet non-significant trend for an improvement of task performance during IS exposure. There was no correlation between performance and brain activity measu...
Source: Hearing Research - Category: Audiology Authors: Tags: Hear Res Source Type: research