Music composition and model of cortex Free

The trion model [PNAS 82, 2364 (1985)] for the firing activity of groups of neurons was developed using the Mountcastle cortical principle of columnar organization; an essential feature is that it is highly structured in time and in spatial connections. The trion model has been shown to be useful for understanding aspects of memory and pattern recognition. To study higher cognitive processes, spatiotemporal firing patterns of time evolutions of the model were mapped onto pitches to produce music. The preliminary results yield the following: (1) The trion music is very pleasant to listen to; (2) one set of connections among the trions produces music sounding like a waltz, and another set gives a minuet; (3) styles of specific periods of composition can be identified. Furthermore. the model demonstrated the ability to learn a musical theme using a Hebbian algorithm. The model provides a window into examining higher brain function.