and neural motor centers may contribute to both congenital and acquired amusia. Memory Memory is required in order to process and integrate both melodic and rhythmic aspects of music. Studies suggest that there is a rich interconnection between the right temporal gyrus and frontal cortical areas for working memory in music appreciation. This connection between the temporal and frontal regions of the brain is extremely important since these regions play critical roles in music processing. Changes in the temporal areas of the amusic brain are most likely associated with deficits in pitch perception and other musical characteristics, while changes in the frontal areas are potentially related to deficits in cognitive processing aspects, such as memory, that are needed for musical discrimination tasks. Memory is also concerned with the recognition and internal representation of tunes, which help to identify familiar songs and confer the ability to sing tunes in one's head. The activation of the superior temporal region and left inferior temporal and frontal areas is responsible for the recognition of familiar songs, and the right auditory cortex (a perceptual mechanism) is involved in the internal representation of tunes. These findings suggest that any abnormalities and/or injuries to these regions of the brain could facilitate amusia. Other regions of the brain possibly linked to amusia Lesions in (or the absence of) associations between the right temporal lobe and inferior frontal lobe. In nine of ten tone-deaf people, the superior arcuate fasciculus in the right hemisphere could not be detected, suggesting a disconnection between the posterior superior temporal gyrus and the posterior inferior frontal gyrus. Researchers suggested the posterior superior temporal gyrus was the origin of the disorder. Cortical thickness and reduced white matter – in a recent study, voxel-based morphometry, an imaging technique used to explore structural differences in the brain, revealed a decrease in white matter concentration in the right inferior frontal gyrus of amusic individuals as compared to controls. Lack of extensive exposure to music could be a contributing factor to this white matter reduction. For example, amusic individuals may be less inclined to listen to music than others, which could ultimately cause reduced myelination of connections to the frontal areas of the brain. Involvement of the parahippocampal gyrus (responsible for the emotional reaction to music) Treatment Currently, no forms of treatment have proven effective in treating amusia. One study has shown tone differentiation techniques to have some success;