Musical experience strengthens the neural representation of sounds important for communication in middle-aged adults

Abstract

Older adults frequently complain that while they can hear a person talking, they cannot understand what is being said; this difficulty is exacerbated by background noise. Peripheral hearing loss cannot fully account for this age-related decline in speech-in-noise ability, as declines in central processing also contribute to this problem. Given that musicians have enhanced speech-in-noise perception, we aimed to define the effects of musical experience on subcortical responses to speech and speech-in-noise perception in middle-aged adults. Results reveal that musicians have enhanced neural encoding of speech in quiet and noisy settings. Enhancements include faster neural response timing, higher neural response consistency, more robust encoding of speech harmonics, and greater neural precision. Taken together, we suggest that musical experience provides perceptual benefits in an aging population by strengthening the underlying neural pathways necessary for the accurate representation of important temporal and spectral features of sound.

Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

“…Moreover, gray matter volume has been linked to the power of resting oscillations in the brain (74), suggesting that an abundance of synapses might lead to more phase-locked neural populations and less variable responses. Consistent with previous cross-sectional studies showing enhanced response consistency in musicians (59,70) and in participants using assistive listening devices (75), the music training group maintained a higher level of response consistency between years 1 and 4. Thus, music training may maintain heightened synaptic density within the auditory system to enable the learning and performance of challenging auditory tasks, much as songbirds show seasonal increases in synaptogenesis that coincide with the onset of the preferential period for learning new songs (76).…”

“…These enhancements extend to the subcortical auditory system, with musicians showing responses to sound that are faster (55,(57)(58)(59)(60)(61), are degraded less by background noise (32,61), represent speech formant structure more robustly (32,(62)(63)(64). differentiate speech sounds to a greater extent (65)(66)(67), track stimulus pitch more accurately (68,69), and are more consistent across trials (59,70).…”

“…Subcortical response consistency peaks in childhood, waning into young adulthood (24), coinciding with a period when learning a second language becomes more difficult than earlier in life (72). Response consistency tracks with language skills (73) and is enhanced in musicians (59,70). Accordingly, we predicted that music training in adolescence prolongs this period of heightened auditory stability.…”

“…differentiate speech sounds to a greater extent (65)(66)(67), track stimulus pitch more accurately (68,69), and are more consistent across trials (59,70). In adolescence, music training leads to faster responses to speech in noise (71), but the extent to which adolescent music training can confer other aspects of the musician signature remains unknown.…”

Music training improves speech-in-noise perception: Longitudinal evidence from a community-based music program

“…We provide the first random-assignment, longitudinal evidence for improved hearing in noise with music training, validating the relationship between music training and speech-in-noise perceptual advantages and indicating that this "musician advantage" observed in previous cross-sectional studies [4,9,10,57,58] is not simply a reflection of pre-existing differences between those who pursue music and those who do not. Further, we reveal this improvement in the context of an established and successful music program providing free, group music instruction to underserved children.…”