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Ipsilateral and contralateral motor inhibitory control in musical and vocalization tasks

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Abstract

The inhibitory motor control mechanisms in human singing and vocalization are not well understood. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we show that singing resulted in right-sided prolongation of ipsilateral silent period and bilateral reduction in contralateral silent period. Reading led to reduced contralateral silent period duration with right-sided TMS only, but no significant inhibitory changes, both ipsilateral and contralateral, were evident with humming. The findings support the presence of enhanced interhemispheric inhibitory motor interaction during singing, as opposed to reading tasks, in dynamic word generation coupled with production of melody.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Donald Yeo for his helpful advice.

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Correspondence to Y. L. Lo.

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Lo, Y.L., Fook-Chong, S. Ipsilateral and contralateral motor inhibitory control in musical and vocalization tasks. Exp Brain Res 159, 258–262 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-004-2032-9

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