What part of the brain allows us to remember melodies?

Question

Or "hear" melodies. You know, when a song gets stuck in your head, which parts of the brain are primarily being accessed?

Answer 1

i think it's the Cellebrum that makes up melodies... but i'm not sure. it's probably a mixture of many parts of the brain working together.

check here: http://rustytray.tripod.com/id7.html

Answer 2

This is currently unestablished - though the auditory cortex and hippocampus most certainly play an enormous role.

The thing is, the brain is far too complex to associate a single brain region with a complex feeling (like a song getting stuck in your head). Many parts of the brain have a role in complex things like this. This is kind of like asking what part of your leg is involved in kicking.

Hearing melodies is a tad more interesting, especially if you mean appreciating melodies. Much recent work has highlighted the overlap between music and speech in the brain - the suggestion being that our brains have evolved in a way that makes us able to communicate and that music appreciation is largely a byproduct. I have a hard time accepting these results, but they are quite convincing. The most interesting (imo) was a study that showed the similarities between major/minor chords and happy/subdued speech - when the speaker is happy/excited they speak in a way that uses more elements common to major chords.

Might look at this paper if you are still interested: http://www.pnas.org/content/104/23/9852....

Answer 3

     The musical part!

Mike B