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Pei Y, Xu Z, He Y, Liu X, Bai Y, Kwok SC, Li X, Wang Z. Effects of musical expertise on line section and line extension. Front Psychol 2024; 14:1190098. [PMID: 38655497 PMCID: PMC11036337 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1190098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Background This study investigated whether music training led to better length estimation and/or rightward bias by comparing the performance of musicians (pianists) and non-musicians on performance of line sections and line extensions. Methods One hundred and sixteen participants, among them 62 musicians and 54 non-musicians, participated in the present study, completed line section and line extension task under three conditions: 1/2, 1/3 and 2/3. Results The mixed repeated measures ANOVA analysis revealed a significant group × condition interaction, that the musicians were more accurate than non-musicians in all the line section tasks and showed no obvious pseudoneglect, while their overall performance on the line extension tasks was comparable to the non-musicians, and only performed more accurately in the 1/2 line extension condition. Conclusion These findings indicated that there was a dissociation between the effects of music training on line section and line extension. This dissociation does not support the view that music training has a general beneficial effect on line estimation, and provides insight into a potentially important limit on the effects of music training on spatial cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yilai Pei
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhiyuan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yibo He
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xinxin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuxuan Bai
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Sze Chai Kwok
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- Phylo-Cognition Laboratory, Division of Natural and Applied Sciences, Data Science Research Center, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiaonuo Li
- Institute of Research of Musical Arts, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhaoxin Wang
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education and Shanghai, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
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2
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Vetere G, Williams G, Ballard C, Creese B, Hampshire A, Palmer A, Pickering E, Richards M, Brooker H, Corbett A. The relationship between playing musical instruments and cognitive trajectories: Analysis from a UK ageing cohort. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2024; 39:e6061. [PMID: 38281509 DOI: 10.1002/gps.6061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The accumulation of age-associated cognitive deficits can lead to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. This is a major public health issue for the modern ageing population, as it impairs health, independence and overall quality of life. Keeping the brain active during life has been associated with an increased cognitive reserve, therefore reducing the risk of cognitive impairment in older age. Previous research has identified a potential relationship between musicality and cognition. OBJECTIVES Explore the relationship between musicality and cognitive function in a large cohort of older adults. METHODS This was a nested study within the PROTECT-UK cohort, which collects longitudinal computerised assessments of cognitive function in adults over 40. Participants were invited to complete the validated Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire (ELMEQ) to assess their musical experience and lifetime exposure to music. Linear regression analysis was performed using cognitive data from PROTECT-UK. RESULTS Analysis identified an association between musicality and cognition in this cohort. Playing a musical instrument was associated with significantly better performance in working memory and executive function. Significant associations were also found between singing and executive function, and between overall musical ability and working memory. CONCLUSIONS Our findings confirm previous literature, highlighting the potential value of education and engagement in musical activities throughout life as a means of harnessing cognitive reserve as part of a protective lifestyle for brain health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaia Vetere
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Gareth Williams
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Clive Ballard
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Byron Creese
- Division of Psychology, Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University, London, UK
| | - Adam Hampshire
- Division of Brain Sciences, & Dementia Research Institute Care Research & Technology Centre, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Abbie Palmer
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Ellie Pickering
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Megan Richards
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | - Anne Corbett
- University of Exeter Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
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3
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Lippolis M, Müllensiefen D, Frieler K, Matarrelli B, Vuust P, Cassibba R, Brattico E. Learning to play a musical instrument in the middle school is associated with superior audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence: A cross-sectional behavioral study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:982704. [PMID: 36312139 PMCID: PMC9610841 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.982704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Music training, in all its forms, is known to have an impact on behavior both in childhood and even in aging. In the delicate life period of transition from childhood to adulthood, music training might have a special role for behavioral and cognitive maturation. Among the several kinds of music training programs implemented in the educational communities, we focused on instrumental training incorporated in the public middle school curriculum in Italy that includes both individual, group and collective (orchestral) lessons several times a week. At three middle schools, we tested 285 preadolescent children (aged 10–14 years) with a test and questionnaire battery including adaptive tests for visuo-spatial working memory skills (with the Jack and Jill test), fluid intelligence (with a matrix reasoning test) and music-related perceptual and memory abilities (with listening tests). Of these children, 163 belonged to a music curriculum within the school and 122 to a standard curriculum. Significant differences between students of the music and standard curricula were found in both perceptual and cognitive domains, even when controlling for pre-existing individual differences in musical sophistication. The music children attending the third and last grade of middle school had better performance and showed the largest advantage compared to the control group on both audiovisual working memory and fluid intelligence. Furthermore, some gender differences were found for several tests and across groups in favor of females. The present results indicate that learning to play a musical instrument as part of the middle school curriculum represents a resource for preadolescent education. Even though the current evidence is not sufficient to establish the causality of the found effects, it can still guide future research evaluation with longitudinal data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariangela Lippolis
- Department of Teaching of Musical, Visual and Corporal Expression, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- Mariangela Lippolis,
| | - Daniel Müllensiefen
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Klaus Frieler
- Department of Methodology, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Benedetta Matarrelli
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus and Aalborg, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Peter Vuust
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus and Aalborg, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Rosalinda Cassibba
- Department of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
| | - Elvira Brattico
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Center for Music in the Brain (MIB), The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus and Aalborg, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Education, Psychology, and Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
- *Correspondence: Elvira Brattico,
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Abstract
Playing a musical instrument engages numerous cognitive abilities, including sensory perception, selective attention, and short-term memory. Mounting evidence indicates that engaging these cognitive functions during musical training will improve performance of these same functions. Yet, it remains unclear the extent these benefits may extend to nonmusical tasks, and what neural mechanisms may enable such transfer. Here, we conducted a preregistered randomized clinical trial where nonmusicians underwent 8 wk of either digital musical rhythm training or word search as control. Only musical rhythm training placed demands on short-term memory, as well as demands on visual perception and selective attention, which are known to facilitate short-term memory. As hypothesized, only the rhythm training group exhibited improved short-term memory on a face recognition task, thereby providing important evidence that musical rhythm training can benefit performance on a nonmusical task. Analysis of electroencephalography data showed that neural activity associated with sensory processing and selective attention were unchanged by training. Rather, rhythm training facilitated neural activity associated with short-term memory encoding, as indexed by an increased P3 of the event-related potential to face stimuli. Moreover, short-term memory maintenance was enhanced, as evidenced by increased two-class (face/scene) decoding accuracy. Activity from both the encoding and maintenance periods each highlight the right superior parietal lobule (SPL) as a source for training-related changes. Together, these results suggest musical rhythm training may improve memory for faces by facilitating activity within the SPL to promote how memories are encoded and maintained, which can be used in a domain-general manner to enhance performance on a nonmusical task.
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Buelow MT, Jungers MK, Parks C, Rinato B. Contextual Factors Affecting Risky Decision Making: The Influence of Music on Task Performance and Perceived Distraction. Front Psychol 2022; 13:818689. [PMID: 35310222 PMCID: PMC8926386 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.818689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research has investigated factors that contribute to the development of different risk-taking behaviors, such as can occur on lab-based behavioral risky decision making tasks. On several of the most common tasks, participants must develop an adequate understanding of the relative risks and benefits associated with each decision in order to learn to decide advantageously. However, contextual factors can affect the decision making process and one's ability to weigh the risks and benefits of a decision. The present study investigates the extent to which music may be an additional contextual factor that can disrupt decision making and other executive functions. Across four studies we examine whether having music playing passively in the background or having participants actively listen to music affects performance on measures of risky decision making, working memory, processing speed, and problem solving. Participants reported greater distraction for rock music than classical music in the passive listening studies but did not report any differences in distraction across conditions in the active listening studies. Despite this self-reported increased level of distraction, few significant differences were found in task performance across groups and across studies. The Angling Risk Task (ART) was sensitive to differences in risk by condition, with music leading to greater risk-taking in a passive listening study, but less risk-taking in an active listening study, compared to no music. The extent to which music serves as a contextual factor disrupting performance on measures of risky decision making and other executive functions may depend in part on whether individuals are actively versus passively listening to the music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa T Buelow
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Newark, OH, United States
| | - Melissa K Jungers
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Newark, OH, United States
| | - Cora Parks
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Newark, OH, United States
| | - Bonnie Rinato
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Newark, OH, United States
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6
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Nie P, Wang C, Rong G, Du B, Lu J, Li S, Putkinen V, Tao S, Tervaniemi M. Effects of Music Training on the Auditory Working Memory of Chinese-Speaking School-Aged Children: A Longitudinal Intervention Study. Front Psychol 2022; 12:770425. [PMID: 35153898 PMCID: PMC8825862 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.770425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Music expertise is known to be beneficial for cognitive function and development. In this study, we conducted 1-year music training for school children (n = 123; 7-11 years of age before training) in China. The children were assigned to music or second-language after-class training groups. A passive control group was included. We aimed to investigate whether music training could facilitate working memory (WM) development compared to second-language training and no training. Before and after the training, auditory WM was measured via a digit span (DS) task, together with the vocabulary and block tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Child IV (WISC-IV). The results of the DS task revealed superior development in the music group compared to the other groups. However, further analysis of DS forward and backward tasks indicated that the performance of the three training/non-training groups only differed significantly in DS backward scores, but not in the DS forward scores. We conclude that music training may benefit the central executive system of WM, as reflected by the DS backward task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peixin Nie
- Cicero Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Cuicui Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Guang Rong
- HiperCog Group, Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Bin Du
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Shuting Li
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Vesa Putkinen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - Sha Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Mari Tervaniemi
- Cicero Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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7
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Auditory and visual short-term memory: influence of material type, contour, and musical expertise. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021; 86:421-442. [PMID: 33881610 PMCID: PMC8885540 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-021-01519-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Short-term memory has mostly been investigated with verbal or visuospatial stimuli and less so with other categories of stimuli. Moreover, the influence of sensory modality has been explored almost solely in the verbal domain. The present study compared visual and auditory short-term memory for different types of materials, aiming to understand whether sensory modality and material type can influence short-term memory performance. Furthermore, we aimed to assess if music expertise can modulate memory performance, as previous research has reported better auditory memory (and to some extent, visual memory), and better auditory contour recognition for musicians than non-musicians. To do so, we adapted the same recognition paradigm (delayed-matching to sample) across different types of stimuli. In each trial, participants (musicians and non-musicians) were presented with two sequences of events, separated by a silent delay, and had to indicate whether the two sequences were identical or different. The performance was compared for auditory and visual materials belonging to three different categories: (1) verbal (i.e., syllables); (2) nonverbal (i.e., that could not be easily denominated) with contour (based on loudness or luminance variations); and (3) nonverbal without contour (pink noise sequences or kanji letters sequences). Contour and no-contour conditions referred to whether the sequence can entail (or not) a contour (i.e., a pattern of up and down changes) based on non-pitch features. Results revealed a selective advantage of musicians for auditory no-contour stimuli and for contour stimuli (both visual and auditory), suggesting that musical expertise is associated with specific short-term memory advantages in domains close to the trained domain, also extending cross-modally when stimuli have contour information. Moreover, our results suggest a role of encoding strategies (i.e., how the material is represented mentally during the task) for short-term-memory performance.
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8
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Abstract
Some researchers theorize that musicians’ greater language ability is mediated by greater working memory because music and language share the same processing resources. Prior work using working memory sentence processing dual-task paradigms have shown that holding verbal information (e.g., words) in working memory interferes with sentence processing. In contrast, visuospatial stimuli are processed in a different working memory store and should not interfere with sentence processing. We tested whether music showed similar interference to sentence processing as opposed to noninterference like visuospatial stimuli. We also compared musicians to nonmusicians to investigate whether musical training improves verbal working memory. Findings revealed that musical stimuli produced similar working memory interference as linguistic stimuli, but visuospatial stimuli did not—suggesting that music and language rely on similar working memory resources (i.e., verbal skills) that are distinct from visuospatial skills. Musicians performed more accurately on the working memory tasks, particularly for the verbal and musical working memory stimuli, supporting an association between musicianship and greater verbal working memory capacity. Future research is necessary to evaluate the role of music training as a cognitive intervention or educational strategy to enhance reading fluency.
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9
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Yurgil KA, Velasquez MA, Winston JL, Reichman NB, Colombo PJ. Music Training, Working Memory, and Neural Oscillations: A Review. Front Psychol 2020; 11:266. [PMID: 32153474 PMCID: PMC7047970 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This review focuses on reports that link music training to working memory and neural oscillations. Music training is increasingly associated with improvement in working memory, which is strongly related to both localized and distributed patterns of neural oscillations. Importantly, there is a small but growing number of reports of relationships between music training, working memory, and neural oscillations in adults. Taken together, these studies make important contributions to our understanding of the neural mechanisms that support effects of music training on behavioral measures of executive functions. In addition, they reveal gaps in our knowledge that hold promise for further investigation. The current review is divided into the main sections that follow: (1) discussion of behavioral measures of working memory, and effects of music training on working memory in adults; (2) relationships between music training and neural oscillations during temporal stages of working memory; (3) relationships between music training and working memory in children; (4) relationships between music training and working memory in older adults; and (5) effects of entrainment of neural oscillations on cognitive processing. We conclude that the study of neural oscillations is proving useful in elucidating the neural mechanisms of relationships between music training and the temporal stages of working memory. Moreover, a lifespan approach to these studies will likely reveal strategies to improve and maintain executive function during development and aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate A. Yurgil
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Loyola University, New Orleans, LA, United States
| | | | - Jenna L. Winston
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States
| | - Noah B. Reichman
- Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States
| | - Paul J. Colombo
- Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States
- Brain Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States
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10
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Jain S, Nataraja NP. The Effect of Fatigue on Working Memory and Auditory Perceptual Abilities in Trained Musicians. Am J Audiol 2019; 28:483-494. [PMID: 31461329 DOI: 10.1044/2019_aja-ind50-18-0102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Many perceptual processing processes, such as cognition, vision, sensation, and audition, are affected due to fatigue. Musicians are prone to fatigue because of long working hours and demanding profession. The research on assessing working memory abilities in musicians is heterogeneous, as none of the studies has controlled the effect of fatigue. This study was thus designed to assess the effect of fatigue on working memory and auditory perception in trained instrumental musicians. Method Twenty-six trained instrumental musicians and 25 nonmusicians participated in this study. The effect of fatigue was assessed by administering the working memory and auditory perception tests in prefatigue and postfatigue conditions. The fatigue was assessed using a 100-point visual analog scale. The working memory was assessed using Operation Span, Reading Span, and Digit Span (Forward and Backward) tests (Knutson et al., 1991). Auditory perception was assessed using speech-perception-in-noise and temporal integration tests. Results Working memory and speech perception were affected due to fatigue. Musicians, despite having better working memory abilities than nonmusicians, are equally prone to fatigue-related distress. Conclusion The advantage of music training for the working memory abilities may be reduced due to fatigue; hence, measures to reduce fatigue should be employed by the musicians. Fatigue should also be treated as a variable in all future research related to assess cognitive processing in musicians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saransh Jain
- Department of Speech and Hearing, Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara Institute of Speech and Hearing, JSS Research Foundation, Mysuru, Karnataka, India
| | - Nuggehalli Puttareviyah Nataraja
- Department of Speech and Hearing, Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara Institute of Speech and Hearing, JSS Research Foundation, Mysuru, Karnataka, India
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Talamini F, Altoè G, Carretti B, Grassi M. Musicians have better memory than nonmusicians: A meta-analysis. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0186773. [PMID: 29049416 PMCID: PMC5648224 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 10/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several studies have found that musicians perform better than nonmusicians in memory tasks, but this is not always the case, and the strength of this apparent advantage is unknown. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis with the aim of clarifying whether musicians perform better than nonmusicians in memory tasks. METHODS Education Source; PEP (WEB)-Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing; Psychology and Behavioral Science (EBSCO); PsycINFO (Ovid); PubMed; ScienceDirect-AllBooks Content (Elsevier API); SCOPUS (Elsevier API); SocINDEX with Full Text (EBSCO) and Google Scholar were searched for eligible studies. The selected studies involved two groups of participants: young adult musicians and nonmusicians. All the studies included memory tasks (loading long-term, short-term or working memory) that contained tonal, verbal or visuospatial stimuli. Three meta-analyses were run separately for long-term memory, short-term memory and working memory. RESULTS We collected 29 studies, including 53 memory tasks. The results showed that musicians performed better than nonmusicians in terms of long-term memory, g = .29, 95% CI (.08-.51), short-term memory, g = .57, 95% CI (.41-.73), and working memory, g = .56, 95% CI (.33-.80). To further explore the data, we included a moderator (the type of stimulus presented, i.e., tonal, verbal or visuospatial), which was found to influence the effect size for short-term and working memory, but not for long-term memory. In terms of short-term and working memory, the musicians' advantage was large with tonal stimuli, moderate with verbal stimuli, and small or null with visuospatial stimuli. CONCLUSIONS The three meta-analyses revealed a small effect size for long-term memory, and a medium effect size for short-term and working memory, suggesting that musicians perform better than nonmusicians in memory tasks. Moreover, the effect of the moderator suggested that, the type of stimuli influences this advantage.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gianmarco Altoè
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Barbara Carretti
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Massimo Grassi
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Hsu CC, Cheng CW, Chiu YS. Analyze the beta waves of electroencephalogram signals from young musicians and non-musicians in major scale working memory task. Neurosci Lett 2017; 640:42-46. [PMID: 28088577 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.01.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2016] [Revised: 12/06/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Electroencephalograms can record wave variations in any brain activity. Beta waves are produced when an external stimulus induces logical thinking, computation, and reasoning during consciousness. This work uses the beta wave of major scale working memory N-back tasks to analyze the differences between young musicians and non-musicians. After the feature analysis uses signal filtering, Hilbert-Huang transformation, and feature extraction methods to identify differences, k-means clustering algorithm are used to group them into different clusters. The results of feature analysis showed that beta waves significantly differ between young musicians and non-musicians from the low memory load of working memory task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chien-Chang Hsu
- Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Fu-Jen Catholic University, 510 Chung Cheng Rd., Hsinchuang Dist., New Taipei City 242, Taiwan.
| | - Ching-Wen Cheng
- Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Fu-Jen Catholic University, 510 Chung Cheng Rd., Hsinchuang Dist., New Taipei City 242, Taiwan
| | - Yi-Shiuan Chiu
- Department of Psychology, Fu-Jen Catholic University, 510 Chung Cheng Rd., Hsinchuang Dist., New Taipei City 242, Taiwan
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Saarikivi K, Putkinen V, Tervaniemi M, Huotilainen M. Cognitive flexibility modulates maturation and music-training-related changes in neural sound discrimination. Eur J Neurosci 2016; 44:1815-25. [PMID: 26797826 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2015] [Revised: 01/08/2016] [Accepted: 01/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Previous research has demonstrated that musicians show superior neural sound discrimination when compared to non-musicians, and that these changes emerge with accumulation of training. Our aim was to investigate whether individual differences in executive functions predict training-related changes in neural sound discrimination. We measured event-related potentials induced by sound changes coupled with tests for executive functions in musically trained and non-trained children aged 9-11 years and 13-15 years. High performance in a set-shifting task, indexing cognitive flexibility, was linked to enhanced maturation of neural sound discrimination in both musically trained and non-trained children. Specifically, well-performing musically trained children already showed large mismatch negativity (MMN) responses at a young age as well as at an older age, indicating accurate sound discrimination. In contrast, the musically trained low-performing children still showed an increase in MMN amplitude with age, suggesting that they were behind their high-performing peers in the development of sound discrimination. In the non-trained group, in turn, only the high-performing children showed evidence of an age-related increase in MMN amplitude, and the low-performing children showed a small MMN with no age-related change. These latter results suggest an advantage in MMN development also for high-performing non-trained individuals. For the P3a amplitude, there was an age-related increase only in the children who performed well in the set-shifting task, irrespective of music training, indicating enhanced attention-related processes in these children. Thus, the current study provides the first evidence that, in children, cognitive flexibility may influence age-related and training-related plasticity of neural sound discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katri Saarikivi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Vesa Putkinen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland.,Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Mari Tervaniemi
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland.,CICERO Learning, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Minna Huotilainen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Cognitive Science, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, PO Box 9, FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
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Vandervert L. How music training enhances working memory: a cerebrocerebellar blending mechanism that can lead equally to scientific discovery and therapeutic efficacy in neurological disorders. CEREBELLUM & ATAXIAS 2015; 2:11. [PMID: 26339499 PMCID: PMC4559002 DOI: 10.1186/s40673-015-0030-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2015] [Accepted: 08/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Background Following in the vein of studies that concluded that music training resulted in plastic changes in Einstein’s cerebral cortex, controlled research has shown that music training (1) enhances central executive attentional processes in working memory, and (2) has also been shown to be of significant therapeutic value in neurological disorders. Within this framework of music training-induced enhancement of central executive attentional processes, the purpose of this article is to argue that: (1) The foundational basis of the central executive begins in infancy as attentional control during the establishment of working memory, (2) In accordance with Akshoomoff, Courchesne and Townsend’s and Leggio and Molinari’s cerebellar sequence detection and prediction models, the rigors of volitional control demands of music training can enhance voluntary manipulation of information in thought and movement, (3) The music training-enhanced blending of cerebellar internal models in working memory as can be experienced as intuition in scientific discovery (as Einstein often indicated) or, equally, as moments of therapeutic advancement toward goals in the development of voluntary control in neurological disorders, and (4) The blending of internal models as in (3) thus provides a mechanism by which music training enhances central executive processes in working memory that can lead to scientific discovery and improved therapeutic outcomes in neurological disorders. Results Within the framework of Leggio and Molinari’s cerebellar sequence detection model, it is determined that intuitive steps forward that occur in both scientific discovery and during therapy in those with neurological disorders operate according to the same mechanism of adaptive error-driven blending of cerebellar internal models. Conclusion It is concluded that the entire framework of the central executive structure of working memory is a product of the cerebrocerebellar system which can, through the learning of internal models, incorporate the multi-dimensional rigor and volitional-control demands of music training and, thereby, enhance voluntary control. It is further concluded that this cerebrocerebellar view of the music training-induced enhancement of central executive control in working memory provides a needed mechanism to explain both the highest level of scientific discovery and the efficacy of music training in the remediation of neurological impairments.
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