Asymmetry of parietal lobe activation during piano performance: a high field functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Functional asymmetry of the parietal lobes during piano performance was assessed utilizing independent component-cross correlation-sequential epoch analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging time series. Eight right handed musically trained subjects played the piano with their right hand, left hand, or both hands as cued by visually presented musical scores. The areas activated included the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and the primary sensorimotor areas (SM1). While unilateral SM1 activation was correlated to motion of the corresponding contralateral hand, PPC activation was correlated to piano performance irrespective of hand modality. Furthermore, PPC activation exhibited significant asymmetry, with left hemisphere dominance. The results indicate that the left parietal lobe plays a significant role in the cortical processes of piano performance.