Musicians experience less age-related decline in central auditory processing.

Zendel, Benjamin Rich; Alain, Claude

doi:10.1037/a0024816

Cited by 221 publications

(226 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Given that both music training and JROTC training enhance phonological awareness and involve synchronization with perceptual cues, future work comparing music training to a passive control group could reveal a divergence not reported here. On the other hand, we found no gains in rapid naming or phonological memory, despite the fact that both reading (46)(47)(48)(49)(50) and verbal memory (30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38) have been associated with music training in other studies, suggesting either that the training studied here was not optimally designed to enhance these skills or that enhancing these skills requires a greater amount of training or training begun earlier in life. A third possibility is that the link between phonological processes and beat synchronization is restricted to phonological awareness.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

“…Studies comparing nonmusicians with musicians who began training early in life have revealed a "signature" set of enhancements associated with musical experience (27,28). Relative to nonmusician peers, musicians tend to show enhanced speech-innoise perception (29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), verbal memory (30)(31)(32)(33)(35)(36)(37)(38), phonological skills (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45), and reading (46-50), although not without exception (51,52). Music training has also been linked to enhancements in the encoding of sound throughout the auditory system.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

Tierney

Krizman

Kraus

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

151

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Fundamental changes in brain structure and function during adolescence are well-characterized, but the extent to which experience modulates adolescent neurodevelopment is not. Musical experience provides an ideal case for examining this question because the influence of music training begun early in life is wellknown. We investigated the effects of in-school music training, previously shown to enhance auditory skills, versus another inschool training program that did not focus on development of auditory skills (active control). We tested adolescents on neural responses to sound and language skills before they entered high school (pretraining) and again 3 y later. Here, we show that inschool music training begun in high school prolongs the stability of subcortical sound processing and accelerates maturation of cortical auditory responses. Although phonological processing improved in both the music training and active control groups, the enhancement was greater in adolescents who underwent music training. Thus, music training initiated as late as adolescence can enhance neural processing of sound and confer benefits for language skills. These results establish the potential for experience-driven brain plasticity during adolescence and demonstrate that in-school programs can engender these changes. music | training | auditory B y age six, the brain has reached 90% of its adult size (1).However, the years between childhood and young adulthood are marked by a host of subtler neural developments. Myelination and synaptic pruning (2-5) lead to a decrease in gray matter and an increase in white matter (6-13). Resting-state oscillations decline (14-16), and passive evoked responses to sound change in complex ways. Cortically, the P1, which is a positive deflection at around 50 ms generated within lateral Heschl's gyrus (17), declines whereas the N1, a negative deflection at around 100 ms generated within primary and secondary auditory cortices (18)(19)(20), increases (21-23). Subcortically, the trial-by-trial consistency of the response declines (24,25). An open question is how experience interacts with this developmental plasticity during adolescence. Is the transition from the plasticity of childhood to the stability of adulthood malleable by experience? And if so, what types of enrichment have the greatest impact on the development of the neural mechanisms contributing to auditory and language skills?Music training is an enrichment program commonly available to high school students, and its neural and behavioral consequences are well-understood (for a review, see ref. 26). Studies comparing nonmusicians with musicians who began training early in life have revealed a "signature" set of enhancements associated with musical experience (27,28). Relative to nonmusician peers, musicians tend to show enhanced speech-innoise perception (29-34), verbal memory (30-33, 35-38), phonological skills (39-45), and reading (46-50), although not without exception (51, 52). Music training has also been linked to enhancements in the enco...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 49%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

Tierney

Krizman

Kraus

2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

151

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“…Zendel & Alain, 2012), and on average had 12.6 years of experience (SD = 7.19). The musicians reported playing between one and four different instruments (M = 2.16, SD = 1.19), with 60 % playing more than one instrument.…”

Section: Methods Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies documenting training-related differences are important because they suggest that formal musical training might have beneficial effects across the lifespan, such as boosting sensory and cognitive function (Schellenberg, 2004;Zendel & Alain, 2012). One limitation to enacting the potential benefits of music in the broader population is that not everyone has the time, money, or perseverance to learn an instrument.…”

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confidence: 99%

How musical are music video game players?

2016

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Numerous studies have shown that formal musical training is associated with sensory, motor, and cognitive advantages in individuals of various ages. However, the nature of the observed differences between musicians and nonmusicians is poorly understood, and little is known about the listening skills of individuals who engage in alternative types of everyday musical activities. Here, we show that people who have frequently played music video games outperform nonmusicians controls on a battery of music perception tests. These findings reveal that enhanced musical aptitude can be found among individuals who play music video games, raising the possibility that music video games could potentially enhance music perception skills in individuals across a broad spectrum of society who are otherwise unable to invest the time and/or money required to learn a musical instrument.

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“…For those who continue into college or beyond, the sensory, cognitive, and neural benefits of long-term musical training are clear (Schneider et al, 2002;Musacchia et al, 2007;Patel and Iversen, 2007;Parbery-Clark et al, 2009Zendel and Alain, 2012). Yet, we have an incomplete understanding of how such training influences the adult brain when music lessons begin and end before adulthood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Little Goes a Long Way: How the Adult Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood

Skoe

Kraus²

2012

J. Neurosci.

146

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Playing a musical instrument changes the anatomy and function of the brain. But do these changes persist after music training stops? We probed this question by measuring auditory brainstem responses in a cohort of healthy young human adults with varying amounts of past musical training. We show that adults who received formal music instruction as children have more robust brainstem responses to sound than peers who never participated in music lessons and that the magnitude of the response correlates with how recently training ceased. Our results suggest that neural changes accompanying musical training during childhood are retained in adulthood. These findings advance our understanding of long-term neuroplasticity and have general implications for the development of effective auditory training programs.

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Musicians experience less age-related decline in central auditory processing.

Cited by 221 publications

References 54 publications

Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

How musical are music video game players?

A Little Goes a Long Way: How the Adult Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood

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