Higher-order Sonification of the Human Brain

Higher-order Sonification of the Human Brain | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Higher-order Sonification of the Human Brain Francisco-Shu Kitaura, Emi-Pauline Kitaura, Niels Janssen, Antonella Maselli, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6623643/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 27 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 14 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sonification, the process of translating data into sound, has recently gained traction as a tool for both disseminating scientific findings and enabling visually impaired individuals to analyze data. Despite its potential, most current sonification methods remain limited to one-dimensional data, primarily due to the absence of practical, quantitative, and robust techniques for handling multi-dimensional datasets. We analyze structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of the human brain by integrating two- and three-point statistical measures in Fourier space: the power spectrum and bispectrum. These quantify the spatial correlations of 3D voxel intensity distributions, yielding reduced bispectra that capture higher-order interactions. To showcase the potential of the sonification approach, we focus on a reduced bispectrum configuration which applied to the OASIS-3 dataset (864 imaging sessions), yields a brain age regression model with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 4.7 years. Finally, we apply sonification to the ensemble-averaged (median) outputs of this configuration across five age groups: 40–50, 50–60, 60–70, 70–80, and 80–100 years. The auditory experience clearly reveals differentiations between these age groups, an observation further supported visually when inspecting the corresponding sheet music scores. Our results demonstrate that the information loss (e.g., normalized mean squared error) during the reconstruction of the original bispectra, specifically in configurations sensitive to brain aging, from the sonified signal is minimal. This approach allows us to encode multi-dimensional data into time-series-like arrays suitable for sonification, creating new opportunities for scientific exploration and enhancing accessibility for a broader audience. Health sciences/Neurology/Neurological disorders/Neurodegenerative diseases Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Neural ageing Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive neuroscience/Perception Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 27 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 12 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 10 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 21 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 07 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 06 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 30 May, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 19 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 17 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 08 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6623643","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":476423758,"identity":"92faf2a2-976d-4fc7-b5ba-d495d5efbe83","order_by":0,"name":"Francisco-Shu 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