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Andrade PE, Müllensiefen D, Andrade OVCA, Dunstan J, Zuk J, Gaab N. Sequence Processing in Music Predicts Reading Skills in Young Readers: A Longitudinal Study. JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES 2024; 57:43-60. [PMID: 36935627 DOI: 10.1177/00222194231157722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Musical abilities, both in the pitch and temporal dimension, have been shown to be positively associated with phonological awareness and reading abilities in both children and adults. There is increasing evidence that the relationship between music and language relies primarily on the temporal dimension, including both meter and rhythm. It remains unclear to what extent skill level in these temporal aspects of music may uniquely contribute to the prediction of reading outcomes. A longitudinal design was used to test a group-administered musical sequence transcription task (MSTT). This task was designed to preferentially engage sequence processing skills while controlling for fine-grained pitch discrimination and rhythm in terms of temporal grouping. Forty-five children, native speakers of Portuguese (Mage = 7.4 years), completed the MSTT and a cognitive-linguistic protocol that included visual and auditory working memory tasks, as well as phonological awareness and reading tasks in second grade. Participants then completed reading assessments in third and fifth grades. Longitudinal regression models showed that MSTT and phonological awareness had comparable power to predict reading. The MSTT showed an overall classification accuracy for identifying low-achievement readers in Grades 2, 3, and 5 that was analogous to a comprehensive model including core predictors of reading disability. In addition, MSTT was the variable with the highest loading and the most discriminatory indicator of a phonological factor. These findings carry implications for the role of temporal sequence processing in contributing to the relationship between music and language and the potential use of MSTT as a language-independent, time- and cost-effective tool for the early identification of children at risk of reading disability.
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Shen D, Ross B, Alain C. Temporal deployment of attention in musicians: Evidence from an attentional blink paradigm. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2023; 1530:110-123. [PMID: 37823710 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
The generalization of music training to unrelated nonmusical domains is well established and may reflect musicians' superior ability to regulate attention. We investigated the temporal deployment of attention in musicians and nonmusicians using scalp-recording of event-related potentials in an attentional blink (AB) paradigm. Participants listened to rapid sequences of stimuli and identified target and probe sounds. The AB was defined as a probe identification deficit when the probe closely follows the target. The sequence of stimuli was preceded by a neutral or informative cue about the probe position within the sequence. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians in identifying the target and probe. In both groups, cueing improved target and probe identification and reduced the AB. The informative cue elicited a sustained potential, which was more prominent in musicians than nonmusicians over left temporal areas and yielded a larger N1 amplitude elicited by the target. The N1 was larger in musicians than nonmusicians, and its amplitude over the left frontocentral cortex of musicians correlated with accuracy. Together, these results reveal musicians' superior ability to regulate attention, allowing them to prepare for incoming stimuli, thereby improving sound object identification. This capacity to manage attentional resources to optimize task performance may generalize to nonmusical activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dawei Shen
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Bernhard Ross
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Claude Alain
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Elmer S, Besson M, Rodriguez-Fornells A, Giroud N. Foreign speech sound discrimination and associative word learning lead to a fast reconfiguration of resting-state networks. Neuroimage 2023; 271:120026. [PMID: 36921678 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Learning new words in an unfamiliar language is a complex endeavor that requires the orchestration of multiple perceptual and cognitive functions. Although the neural mechanisms governing word learning are becoming better understood, little is known about the predictive value of resting-state (RS) metrics for foreign word discrimination and word learning attainment. In addition, it is still unknown which of the multistep processes involved in word learning have the potential to rapidly reconfigure RS networks. To address these research questions, we used electroencephalography (EEG), measured forty participants, and examined scalp-based power spectra, source-based spectral density maps and functional connectivity metrics before (RS1), in between (RS2) and after (RS3) a series of tasks which are known to facilitate the acquisition of new words in a foreign language, namely word discrimination, word-referent mapping and semantic generalization. Power spectra at the scalp level consistently revealed a reconfiguration of RS networks as a function of foreign word discrimination (RS1 vs. RS2) and word learning (RS1 vs. RS3) tasks in the delta, lower and upper alpha, and upper beta frequency ranges. Otherwise, functional reconfigurations at the source level were restricted to the theta (spectral density maps) and to the lower and upper alpha frequency bands (spectral density maps and functional connectivity). Notably, scalp RS changes related to the word discrimination tasks (difference between RS2 and RS1) correlated with word discrimination abilities (upper alpha band) and semantic generalization performance (theta and upper alpha bands), whereas functional changes related to the word learning tasks (difference between RS3 and RS1) correlated with word discrimination scores (lower alpha band). Taken together, these results highlight that foreign speech sound discrimination and word learning have the potential to rapidly reconfigure RS networks at multiple functional scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Elmer
- Department of Computational Linguistics, Computational Neuroscience of Speech & Hearing, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain; Competence center Language & Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Mireille Besson
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, Université Publique de France, CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells
- Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain; University of Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nathalie Giroud
- Department of Computational Linguistics, Computational Neuroscience of Speech & Hearing, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Center for Neuroscience Zurich, University and ETH of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Competence center Language & Medicine, University of Zurich, Switzerland
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Price CN, Bidelman GM. Musical experience partially counteracts temporal speech processing deficits in putative mild cognitive impairment. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2022; 1516:114-122. [PMID: 35762658 PMCID: PMC9588638 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) commonly results in more rapid cognitive and behavioral declines than typical aging. Individuals with MCI can exhibit impaired receptive speech abilities that may reflect neurophysiological changes in auditory-sensory processing prior to usual cognitive deficits. Benefits from current interventions targeting communication difficulties in MCI are limited. Yet, neuroplasticity associated with musical experience has been implicated in improving neural representations of speech and offsetting age-related declines in perception. Here, we asked whether these experience-dependent effects of musical experience might extend to aberrant aging and offer some degree of cognitive protection against MCI. During a vowel categorization task, we recorded single-channel electroencephalograms (EEGs) in older adults with putative MCI to evaluate speech encoding across subcortical and cortical levels of the auditory system. Critically, listeners varied in their duration of formal musical experience (0-21 years). Musical experience sharpened temporal precision in auditory cortical responses, suggesting that musical experience produces more efficient processing of acoustic features by counteracting age-related neural delays. Additionally, robustness of brainstem responses predicted the severity of cognitive decline, suggesting that early speech representations are sensitive to preclinical stages of cognitive impairment. Our results extend prior studies by demonstrating positive benefits of musical experience in older adults with emergent cognitive impairments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin N. Price
- Department of Audiology & Speech Pathology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
| | - Gavin M. Bidelman
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
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Angwin AJ, Armstrong SR, Fisher C, Escudero P. Acquisition of novel word meaning via cross situational word learning: An event-related potential study. BRAIN AND LANGUAGE 2022; 229:105111. [PMID: 35367812 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Cross-situational statistical word learning (CSWL) refers to the process whereby participants learn new words by tracking ambiguous word-object co-occurrences across time. This study used event-related potentials to explore the acquisition of novel word meanings via CSWL in healthy adults. After learning to associate novel auditory words (e.g., 'ket') with familiar objects (e.g., sword), participants performed a semantic judgement task where the learned novel words were paired with a familiar word belonging to either the same (e.g., dagger) or a different (e.g., harp) semantic category. As a comparison, the task also included word pairs comprising two familiar words. The analyses revealed that the unrelated novel word pairs elicited a similar N400 to that of the unrelated familiar word pairs, but with a different hemispheric distribution (left hemisphere for novel words, right hemisphere for familiar words). These findings demonstrate rapid meaning acquisition via CSWL, which is reflected at a neurophysiological level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony J Angwin
- University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - Samuel R Armstrong
- University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Courtney Fisher
- University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Paola Escudero
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
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Frey A, Barbaroux M, Dittinger E, Besson M. Effects of Psychoacoustic Training on the Pre-Attentive Processing of Harmonic Sounds and Syllables. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2022; 65:2003-2015. [PMID: 35503959 DOI: 10.1044/2022_jslhr-21-00441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE This article aimed at investigating the neural underpinnings of music-to-language transfer effects at the pre-attentive level of processing. METHOD We conducted a longitudinal experiment with a test-training-retest procedure. Nonmusician adults were trained either on frequency (experimental group) or on intensity (control group) of harmonic tones using methods from psychophysics. Pre- and posttraining, we recorded brain electrical activity and we analyzed the mismatch negativity (MMN) and the P3a component both to harmonic complex sounds and to syllables varying in frequency. RESULTS Frequency training influenced the pre-attentive perception of pitch for large harmonic deviant sounds but not for syllables. CONCLUSION Results are discussed in terms of near and far transfer effects from psychoacoustic training to pre-attentive pitch processing and as possibly showing some limits to transfer effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aline Frey
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC), CNRS, and Aix-Marseille University, Université Publique de France
- Institute for Language and Communication in the Brain (ILCB), Aix-Marseille University, France
| | - Mylène Barbaroux
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC), CNRS, and Aix-Marseille University, Université Publique de France
| | - Eva Dittinger
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC), CNRS, and Aix-Marseille University, Université Publique de France
- Laboratoire Parole et Langage (LPL), CNRS, and Aix-Marseille University, Université Publique de France
| | - Mireille Besson
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC), CNRS, and Aix-Marseille University, Université Publique de France
- Institute for Language and Communication in the Brain (ILCB), Aix-Marseille University, France
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Tervaniemi M, Putkinen V, Nie P, Wang C, Du B, Lu J, Li S, Cowley BU, Tammi T, Tao S. Improved Auditory Function Caused by Music Versus Foreign Language Training at School Age: Is There a Difference? Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:63-75. [PMID: 34265850 PMCID: PMC8634570 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2021] [Revised: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
In adults, music and speech share many neurocognitive functions, but how do they interact in a developing brain? We compared the effects of music and foreign language training on auditory neurocognition in Chinese children aged 8–11 years. We delivered group-based training programs in music and foreign language using a randomized controlled trial. A passive control group was also included. Before and after these year-long extracurricular programs, auditory event-related potentials were recorded (n = 123 and 85 before and after the program, respectively). Through these recordings, we probed early auditory predictive brain processes. To our surprise, the language program facilitated the children’s early auditory predictive brain processes significantly more than did the music program. This facilitation was most evident in pitch encoding when the experimental paradigm was musically relevant. When these processes were probed by a paradigm more focused on basic sound features, we found early predictive pitch encoding to be facilitated by music training. Thus, a foreign language program is able to foster auditory and music neurocognition, at least in tonal language speakers, in a manner comparable to that by a music program. Our results support the tight coupling of musical and linguistic brain functions also in the developing brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- 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
| | - Vesa Putkinen
- Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - 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
| | - Cuicui Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - 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
| | - Benjamin Ultan Cowley
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.,Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuisku Tammi
- Cognitive Science, Department of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sha Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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