Rapid modulation in music supports attention in listeners with attentional difficulties

Abstract Background music is widely used to sustain attention, but little is known about what musical properties aid attention. This may be due to inter-individual variability in neural responses to music. Here we find that music with amplitude modulations added at specific rates can sustain attention differentially for those with varying levels of attentional difficulty. We first tested the hypothesis that music with strong amplitude modulation would improve sustained attention, and found it did so when it occurred early in the experiment. Rapid modulations in music elicited greater activity in attentional networks in fMRI, as well as greater stimulus-brain coupling in EEG. Finally, to test the idea that specific modulation properties would differentially affect listeners based on their level of attentional difficulty, we parametrically manipulated the depth and rate of amplitude modulations inserted in otherwise-identical music, and found that beta-range modulations helped more than other modulation ranges for participants with more ADHD symptoms. Results suggest the possibility of an oscillation-based neural mechanism for targeted music to support improved cognitive performance.