Does music training enhance auditory and linguistic processing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of behavioral and brain evidence

Temporal resolution and pitch discrimination in music education: novel data in children

BACKGROUND

Rehabilitation of hearing and listening difficulties through neuroplasticity of the auditory nervous system is a promising technique. Evidence of enhanced auditory processing in adult musicians is often not based on clinical auditory processing tests and is lacking in children with musical education.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to investigate the temporal resolution and frequency discrimination elements of auditory processing both in adults and children with musical education and to compare them with those without any musical education.

METHODS

Participants consisted of ten children without musical training and ten children with musical training with mean age 11.3 years and range 8-15 years as well as ten adults without musical education and ten adults with musical education with mean age 38.1 years and range 30-45 years. All participants were tested with two temporal resolution tests (GIN:Gaps-In-Noise and RGDT:Random Gap Detection Test), a temporal ordering frequency test (FPT:Frequency Pattern Test), and a frequency discrimination test (DLF: Different Limen for Frequency).

RESULTS

All test results revealed better performance in both children and adults with musical training for both ears.

CONCLUSION

A positive effect of formal music education for specific auditory processing elements in both children and adults is documented. Larger samples, longitudinal studies, as well as groups with impaired hearing and/or auditory processing are needed to further substantiate the effect shown.

Understanding music and aging through the lens of Bayesian inference

Bayesian inference has recently gained momentum in explaining music perception and aging. A fundamental mechanism underlying Bayesian inference is the notion of prediction. This framework could explain how predictions pertaining to musical (melodic, rhythmic, harmonic) structures engender action, emotion, and learning, expanding related concepts of music research, such as musical expectancies, groove, pleasure, and tension. Moreover, a Bayesian perspective of music perception may shed new insights on the beneficial effects of music in aging. Aging could be framed as an optimization process of Bayesian inference. As predictive inferences refine over time, the reliance on consolidated priors increases, while the updating of prior models through Bayesian inference attenuates. This may affect the ability of older adults to estimate uncertainties in their environment, limiting their cognitive and behavioral repertoire. With Bayesian inference as an overarching framework, this review synthesizes the literature on predictive inferences in music and aging, and details how music could be a promising tool in preventive and rehabilitative interventions for older adults through the lens of Bayesian inference.

Long-term music instruction is partially associated with the development of socioemotional skills

This study aims to investigate the development of pitch-matching, rhythmic entrainment, and socioemotional skills in children who received formal music instruction and other non-music based after school programs. Eighty-three children, averaging 6.81 years old at baseline, were enrolled in either a music, sports, or no after-school program and followed over four years. The music program involved formal and systematic instruction in music theory, instrumental technique, and performance. Most control participants had no music education; however, in some instances, participants received minimal music education at school or at church. Musical development was measured using a pitch-matching and drumming-based rhythmic entrainment task. Sharing behavior was measured using a variation of the dictator game, and empathy was assessed using three different assessments: the Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescence (trait empathy), the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (theory of mind), and a Fiction Emotion-Matching task (state empathy). Results revealed no time-related associations in pitch-matching ability; however, formal music instruction improved pitch-matching relative to controls. On the contrary, improvements in rhythmic entrainment were best explained by age-related changes rather than music instruction. This study also found limited support for a positive association between formal music instruction and socioemotional skills. That is, individuals with formal music instruction exhibited improved emotion-matching relative to those with sports training. In terms of general socioemotional development, children's trait-level affective empathy did not improve over time, while sharing, theory of mind, and state empathy did. Additionally, pitch-matching and rhythmic entrainment did not reliably predict any socioemotional measures, with associations being trivial to small. While formal music instruction benefitted pitch-matching ability and emotion-matching to an audiovisual stimulus, it was not a significant predictor of rhythmic entrainment or broader socioemotional development. These findings suggest that the transfer of music training may be most evident in near or similar domains.

Prosodic discrimination skills mediate the association between musical aptitude and vocal emotion recognition ability

The current study tested the hypothesis that the association between musical ability and vocal emotion recognition skills is mediated by accuracy in prosody perception. Furthermore, it was investigated whether this association is primarily related to musical expertise, operationalized by long-term engagement in musical activities, or musical aptitude, operationalized by a test of musical perceptual ability. To this end, we conducted three studies: In Study 1 (N = 85) and Study 2 (N = 93), we developed and validated a new instrument for the assessment of prosodic discrimination ability. In Study 3 (N = 136), we examined whether the association between musical ability and vocal emotion recognition was mediated by prosodic discrimination ability. We found evidence for a full mediation, though only in relation to musical aptitude and not in relation to musical expertise. Taken together, these findings suggest that individuals with high musical aptitude have superior prosody perception skills, which in turn contribute to their vocal emotion recognition skills. Importantly, our results suggest that these benefits are not unique to musicians, but extend to non-musicians with high musical aptitude.

Cognitive and neuroscientific perspectives of healthy ageing

With dementia incidence projected to escalate significantly within the next 25 years, the United Nations declared 2021-2030 the Decade of Healthy Ageing, emphasising cognition as a crucial element. As a leading discipline in cognition and ageing research, psychology is well-equipped to offer insights for translational research, clinical practice, and policy-making. In this comprehensive review, we discuss the current state of knowledge on age-related changes in cognition and psychological health. We discuss cognitive changes during ageing, including (a) heterogeneity in the rate, trajectory, and characteristics of decline experienced by older adults, (b) the role of cognitive reserve in age-related cognitive decline, and (c) the potential for cognitive training to slow this decline. We also examine ageing and cognition through multiple theoretical perspectives. We highlight critical unresolved issues, such as the disparate implications of subjective versus objective measures of cognitive decline and the insufficient evaluation of cognitive training programs. We suggest future research directions, and emphasise interdisciplinary collaboration to create a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that modulate cognitive ageing.

Unravelling the multisensory learning advantage: Different patterns of within and across frequency-specific interactions drive uni- and multisensory neuroplasticity

In the field of learning theory and practice, the superior efficacy of multisensory learning over uni-sensory is well-accepted. However, the underlying neural mechanisms at the macro-level of the human brain remain largely unexplored. This study addresses this gap by providing novel empirical evidence and a theoretical framework for understanding the superiority of multisensory learning. Through a cognitive, behavioral, and electroencephalographic assessment of carefully controlled uni-sensory and multisensory training interventions, our study uncovers a fundamental distinction in their neuroplastic patterns. A multilayered network analysis of pre- and post- training EEG data allowed us to model connectivity within and across different frequency bands at the cortical level. Pre-training EEG analysis unveils a complex network of distributed sources communicating through cross-frequency coupling, while comparison of pre- and post-training EEG data demonstrates significant differences in the reorganizational patterns of uni-sensory and multisensory learning. Uni-sensory training primarily modifies cross-frequency coupling between lower and higher frequencies, whereas multisensory training induces changes within the beta band in a more focused network, implying the development of a unified representation of audiovisual stimuli. In combination with behavioural and cognitive findings this suggests that, multisensory learning benefits from an automatic top-down transfer of training, while uni-sensory training relies mainly on limited bottom-up generalization. Our findings offer a compelling theoretical framework for understanding the advantage of multisensory learning.

Understanding functional brain reorganization for naturalistic piano playing in novice pianists

Learning to play the piano is a unique complex task, integrating multiple sensory modalities and higher order cognitive functions. Longitudinal neuroimaging studies on adult novice musicians show training-related functional changes in music perception tasks. The reorganization of brain activity while actually playing an instrument was studied only on a very short time frame of a single fMRI session, and longer interventions have not yet been performed. Thus, our aim was to investigate the dynamic complexity of functional brain reorganization while playing the piano within the first half year of musical training. We scanned 24 novice keyboard learners (female, 18-23 years old) using fMRI while they played increasingly complex musical pieces after 1, 6, 13, and 26 weeks of training. Playing music evoked responses bilaterally in the auditory, inferior frontal, and supplementary motor areas, and the left sensorimotor cortex. The effect of training over time, however, invoked widespread changes encompassing the right sensorimotor cortex, cerebellum, superior parietal cortex, anterior insula and hippocampus, among others. As the training progressed, the activation of these regions decreased while playing music. Post hoc analysis revealed region-specific time-courses for independent auditory and motor regions of interest. These results suggest that while the primary sensory, motor, and frontal regions are associated with playing music, the training decreases the involvement of higher order cognitive control and integrative regions, and basal ganglia. Moreover, training might affect distinct brain regions in different ways, providing evidence in favor of the dynamic nature of brain plasticity.

Music training affects listeners' processing of different types of accentuation information: Evidence from ERPs

Previous studies found that prolonged musical training can promote language processing, but few studies have examined whether and how musical training affects the processing of accentuation in spoken language. In this study, a vocabulary detection task was conducted, with Chinese single sentences as materials, to investigate how musicians and non-musicians process corrective accent and information accent in the sentence-middle and sentence-final positions. In the sentence-middle position, results of the cluster-based permutation t-tests showed significant differences in the 574-714 ms time window for the control group. In the sentence-final position, the cluster-based permutation t-tests revealed significant differences in the 612-810 ms time window for the music group and in the 616-812 ms time window for the control group. These significant positive effects were induced by the processing of information accent relative to that of corrective accent. These results suggest that both groups were able to distinguish corrective accent from information accent, but they processed the two accent types differently in the sentence-middle position. These findings show that musical training has a cross-domain effect on spoken language processing and that the accent position also affects its processing.

Short- and long-term neuroplasticity interact during the perceptual learning of concurrent speech

Plasticity from auditory experience shapes the brain's encoding and perception of sound. However, whether such long-term plasticity alters the trajectory of short-term plasticity during speech processing has yet to be investigated. Here, we explored the neural mechanisms and interplay between short- and long-term neuroplasticity for rapid auditory perceptual learning of concurrent speech sounds in young, normal-hearing musicians and nonmusicians. Participants learned to identify double-vowel mixtures during ~ 45 min training sessions recorded simultaneously with high-density electroencephalography (EEG). We analyzed frequency-following responses (FFRs) and event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate neural correlates of learning at subcortical and cortical levels, respectively. Although both groups showed rapid perceptual learning, musicians showed faster behavioral decisions than nonmusicians overall. Learning-related changes were not apparent in brainstem FFRs. However, plasticity was highly evident in cortex, where ERPs revealed unique hemispheric asymmetries between groups suggestive of different neural strategies (musicians: right hemisphere bias; nonmusicians: left hemisphere). Source reconstruction and the early (150-200 ms) time course of these effects localized learning-induced cortical plasticity to auditory-sensory brain areas. Our findings reinforce the domain-general benefits of musicianship but reveal that successful speech sound learning is driven by a critical interplay between long- and short-term mechanisms of auditory plasticity, which first emerge at a cortical level.

Musical Expertise and Executive Functions in Experienced Musicians

Extensive music practice has been suggested to enhance the development of cognitive abilities over and above musical expertise. Executive functions (EFs) have been particularly investigated, given their generalizability across different domains and their crucial role in almost all aspects of cognition. However, the relationship between musical expertise and EFs is still not completely understood, as several studies have reported conflicting results. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between musical expertise and EFs, determining which facets-if any-of EFs might be particularly relevant to extensive music practice. Thirty-five student pianists completed a set of neuropsychological tasks which assessed EFs (the Trail Making Task, Design Fluency, Numerical Stroop, and the Tower of London). They also performed a short musical excerpt inspired by the piano literature. Musical expertise was assessed by considering three parameters, namely the highest academic degree in music, the lifetime amount of music practice, and the quality of the sample-based musical performance. The results indicate that postgraduate piano students did not show advantages in EFs compared to undergraduate piano students. More extensive lifetime practice in music was solely associated with faster visual reaction times on the Numerical Stroop task. The Trail Making and Design Fluency scores were significant predictors of the quality of the sample-based musical performance. In conclusion, the present data suggests that EFs and the amount of music practice do not seem to be correlated in student pianists. Nevertheless, some facets of EFs and the quality of musical performance may share substantial amounts of variance.

The Relationship between Formal Music Training and Conflict Control: An ERP Study

Music training involves manifolds of sensorimotor processes that tie closely with executive functions, including conflict control. Past studies have found consistent evidence in children of the link between music learning and executive functions. However, the same relationship has not been found in adult populations, and conflict control has yet to be studied in a focused manner. Via the Stroop task and event-related potentials (ERPs), the present study examined the association between musical training and conflict control ability among Chinese college students. The findings exhibited that individuals with music training outperformed individuals without music training by demonstrating higher accuracy and faster reaction times on the Stroop task and exhibiting greater N2 and smaller P3 amplitudes compared to the control group. The results support our hypothesis that people who received music training demonstrate advantages in their capacity for conflict control. The findings also provide scope for future research.

Enduring musician advantage among former musicians in prosodic pitch perception

Musical training has been associated with various cognitive benefits, one of which is enhanced speech perception. However, most findings have been based on musicians taking part in ongoing music lessons and practice. This study thus sought to determine whether the musician advantage in pitch perception in the language domain extends to individuals who have ceased musical training and practice. To this end, adult active musicians (n = 22), former musicians (n = 27), and non-musicians (n = 47) were presented with sentences spoken in a native language, English, and a foreign language, French. The final words of the sentences were either prosodically congruous (spoken at normal pitch height), weakly incongruous (pitch was increased by 25%), or strongly incongruous (pitch was increased by 110%). Results of the pitch discrimination task revealed that although active musicians outperformed former musicians, former musicians outperformed non-musicians in the weakly incongruous condition. The findings suggest that the musician advantage in pitch perception in speech is retained to some extent even after musical training and practice is discontinued.

Music-based interventions in community settings: Navigating the tension between rigor and ecological validity

Empirical research of community-based music interventions has advanced to investigate the individual, social, and educational implications of arts-for-wellbeing practices. Here, we present the motivations, aims, hypotheses, and implications of this complex field of inquiry. We describe examples of recent large-scale investigations to reflect on the major methodological challenges. Community-based music interventions strike a balance between the empirical rigor of clinical trials and the demands of ecological validity. We argue that this balance should be viewed as an asset rather than a mere pragmatic compromise. We also offer some perspectives on best-practice models for effectively engaging in this type of work.