Neural Dynamics of Improved Bimodal Attention and Working Memory in Musically Trained Children

Abstract

Attention and working memory (WM) are core components of executive functions, and they can be enhanced by training. One activity that has shown to improve executive functions is musical training, but the brain networks underlying these improvements are not well known. We aimed to identify, using functional MRI (fMRI), these networks in children who regularly learn and play a musical instrument. Girls and boys aged 10–13 with and without musical training completed an attention and WM task while their brain activity was measured with fMRI. Participants were presented with a pair of bimodal stimuli (auditory and visual) and were asked to pay attention only to the auditory, only to the visual, or to both at the same time. The stimuli were afterward tested with a memory task in order to confirm attention allocation. Both groups had higher accuracy on items that they were instructed to attend, but musicians had an overall better performance on both memory tasks across attention conditions. In line with this, musicians showed higher activation than controls in cognitive control regions such as the fronto-parietal control network during all encoding phases. In addition, facilitated encoding of auditory stimuli in musicians was positively correlated with years of training and higher activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left supramarginal gyrus, structures that support the phonological loop. Taken together, our results elucidate the neural dynamics that underlie improved bimodal attention and WM of musically trained children and contribute new knowledge to this model of brain plasticity.

An ALE meta-analytic review of musical expertise

“…The same pattern was found when comparing cognitive abilities, with amateurs showing higher cognitive abilities than NM, but lower than M 11 . To be noted, however, this research field suffers of the paucity of longitudinal (f)MRI studies conducted with children, which thus far amount only to seven 4 – 8 , 86 , 87 , next to one 15-week long study in adults 88 . Longitudinal studies are the only ones promising to better elucidate on the causal link between musical training and neural adaptations.…”

“…For instance, expert musicians (M) seem to develop, through long-term training, complex and specialized auditory and sensorimotor skills, which enable them to achieve the highest levels of performance in playing a musical instrument (thus, the label of “virtuoso”) 1 – 4 . Notably, such debate extends to the association between the acquisition of such fascinating skills and the continuous neuro-anatomical and -functional changes in auditory, motor and higher-order cognitive control regions since childhood 4 – 8 . Furthermore, other non-music-specific cognitive functions seem to benefit from such trainings, as revealed by increased performance in working memory, intelligence, executive functions and inhibitory control tests 6 , 9 – 11 .…”

An ALE meta-analytic review of musical expertise

“…The same pattern was found when comparing cognitive abilities, with amateurs showing higher cognitive abilities than NM, but lower than M 78 . To be noted, however, this research field suffers of the paucity of longitudinal (f)MRI studies conducted with children, which thus far amount only to seven [3][4][5][6][7]79,80 , next to one 15week long study in adults 81 . Longitudinal studies are the only ones promising to better elucidate on the causal link between musical training and neural adaptations.…”

“…For instance, expert musicians (M) seem to develop, through long-term training, complex and specialized auditory and sensorimotor skills, which enable them to achieve the highest levels of performance in playing a musical instrument (thus, the label of "virtuoso") [1][2][3] . Notably, such debate extends to the association between the acquisition of such fascinating skills and the continuous neuro-anatomical and -functional changes in auditory, motor and higher-order cognitive control regions since childhood [3][4][5][6][7] . Furthermore, other non-music-specific cognitive functions seem to benefit from such trainings, as revealed by increased performance in working memory, intelligence, executive functions and inhibitory control tests 5,[8][9][10] .…”

Learning to Play the Piano Whilst Reading Music: Short-Term School-Based Piano Instruction Improves Memory and Word Recognition in Children

“…The nature of training for a musical instrument, which involves sustained attentional focussing, repetition, as well as precision, is more demanding than simply listening to ordinary speech; it is demanding on attention, short-term (working), and auditory memory. The most consistent evidence of the impact of musical training in children has been on working memory and verbal memory in particular (Ho et al, 2003;Hansen et al, 2012;Nutley et al, 2014;Talamani et al, 2016;Talamami et al, 2017;Guo et al, 2018;Saarikivi et al, 2019;Wilbiks & Hutchins, 2020, Kausel et al, 2020. Since working memory is what holds our attention, sustained attentional focussing and working memory are part of the same working process, and to retain information in working memory, we need to maintain attention, for example when reading text.…”