Il cervello nell’esecuzione e nell’ascolto della musica.

At the beginning are analyzed the principal methodologies and techniques of research, examining then the studies in two main musical abilities: listening and performing. Concerning listening, some researches evidenced a different use of the hemispheres with local versus global strategies: in the first case is more relevant the left hemisphere (analysis of feature of single tones), in the second the right hemisphere (melodic contour). Studies on the processing of pitch demonstrated that auditory cortex is tonotopically organized: high frequencies are represented medially and low frequencies laterally. In melodic cognition there is an association between left posterior hemisphere and right hemisphere regions. In the analysis of time is more relevant the left dominant hemisphere. Concerning the performance of music, some research analyzed the level of coactivation of motor and cognitive areas, founding e.g. that string performers activated more than non musicians the right primary somatosensory cortex. A net of connections was found instead of the involvement of simple functions. Finally, are considered theories and models in the field of neuroscience: a common statement is that any music processing involves both hemispheres equally, but in an asymmetric specialization. The level of interactions it depends on the factors and the processes activated, because the signal processing is multimodal and distributed in both the hemispheres.