1
|
Yamashita M, Ohsawa C, Suzuki M, Guo X, Sadakata M, Otsuka Y, Asano K, Abe N, Sekiyama K. Neural Advantages of Older Musicians Involve the Cerebellum: Implications for Healthy Aging Through Lifelong Musical Instrument Training. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 15:784026. [PMID: 35069154 PMCID: PMC8766763 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.784026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
This study compared 30 older musicians and 30 age-matched non-musicians to investigate the association between lifelong musical instrument training and age-related cognitive decline and brain atrophy (musicians: mean age 70.8 years, musical experience 52.7 years; non-musicians: mean age 71.4 years, no or less than 3 years of musical experience). Although previous research has demonstrated that young musicians have larger gray matter volume (GMV) in the auditory-motor cortices and cerebellum than non-musicians, little is known about older musicians. Music imagery in young musicians is also known to share a neural underpinning [the supramarginal gyrus (SMG) and cerebellum] with music performance. Thus, we hypothesized that older musicians would show superiority to non-musicians in some of the abovementioned brain regions. Behavioral performance, GMV, and brain activity, including functional connectivity (FC) during melodic working memory (MWM) tasks, were evaluated in both groups. Behaviorally, musicians exhibited a much higher tapping speed than non-musicians, and tapping speed was correlated with executive function in musicians. Structural analyses revealed larger GMVs in both sides of the cerebellum of musicians, and importantly, this was maintained until very old age. Task-related FC analyses revealed that musicians possessed greater cerebellar-hippocampal FC, which was correlated with tapping speed. Furthermore, musicians showed higher activation in the SMG during MWM tasks; this was correlated with earlier commencement of instrumental training. These results indicate advantages or heightened coupling in brain regions associated with music performance and imagery in musicians. We suggest that lifelong instrumental training highly predicts the structural maintenance of the cerebellum and related cognitive maintenance in old age.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Masatoshi Yamashita
- Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Chie Ohsawa
- School of Music, Mukogawa Women’s University, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Maki Suzuki
- Department of Behavioral Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, Osaka University United Graduate School of Child Development, Osaka, Japan
| | - Xia Guo
- Graduate School of Social and Cultural Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Makiko Sadakata
- Institute for Logic, Language and Computation, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Yuki Otsuka
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kohei Asano
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Faculty of Child Care and Education, Osaka University of Comprehensive Children Education, Osaka, Japan
| | - Nobuhito Abe
- Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kaoru Sekiyama
- Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- *Correspondence: Kaoru Sekiyama,
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Cuenca-Martínez F, Suso-Martí L, León-Hernández JV, La Touche R. Effects of movement representation techniques on motor learning of thumb-opposition tasks. Sci Rep 2020; 10:12267. [PMID: 32704155 PMCID: PMC7378061 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67905-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The present work is the first study that assess long run change after motor learning. The study’s main objective was to evaluate the short to medium-term impact of motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) on motor learning of a sequence of thumb-opposition tasks of increasing complexity. We randomly assigned 45 participants to an AO, MI, or placebo observation (PO) group. A sequence of 12 thumb-opposition tasks was taught for 3 consecutive days (4 per day). The primary outcome was accuracy. The secondary outcomes were required time and perfect positioning. The outcomes were assessed immediately after the intervention and at 1 week, 1 month and 4 months postintervention. Regarding the primary outcome, AO group had significantly higher accuracy than the MI or PO group until at least 4 months (p < 0.01, d > 0.80). However, in the bimanual positions, AO was not superior to MI at 1 week postintervention. Regarding secondary outcomes, AO group required less time than the MI group to remember and perform the left-hand and both-hand gestures, with a large effect size (p < 0.01, d > 0.80). In terms of percentage of perfect positions, AO group achieved significantly better results than the MI group until at least 4 months after the intervention in the unimanual gestures (p < 0.01, d > 0.80) and up to 1 month postintervention in the bimanual gestures (p = 0.012, d = 1.29). AO training resulted in greater and longer term motor learning than MI and placebo intervention. If the goal is to learn some motor skills for whatever reason (e.g., following surgery or immobilization.), AO training should be considered clinically.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ferran Cuenca-Martínez
- Departmento de Fisioterapia, Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Motion in Brains Research Group, Institute of Neuroscience and Sciences of the Movement (INCIMOV), Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Luis Suso-Martí
- Motion in Brains Research Group, Institute of Neuroscience and Sciences of the Movement (INCIMOV), Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Physiotherapy, Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU, CEU Universities, Valencia, Spain
| | - Jose Vicente León-Hernández
- Departmento de Fisioterapia, Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,Motion in Brains Research Group, Institute of Neuroscience and Sciences of the Movement (INCIMOV), Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Roy La Touche
- Departmento de Fisioterapia, Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. .,Motion in Brains Research Group, Institute of Neuroscience and Sciences of the Movement (INCIMOV), Centro Superior de Estudios Universitarios CSEU La Salle, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. .,Instituto de Neurociencia y Dolor Craniofacial (INDCRAN), Madrid, Spain. .,Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Universitario La Paz (IdiPAZ), Madrid, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Cotter KN. Mental Control in Musical Imagery: A Dual Component Model. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1904. [PMID: 31496973 PMCID: PMC6712095 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Hearing music in your head is a ubiquitous experience, but the role mental control plays in these experiences has not been deeply addressed. In this conceptual analysis, a dual-component model of mental control in musical imagery experiences is developed and discussed. The first component, initiation, refers to whether the musical imagery experience began voluntarily or involuntarily. The second component, management, refers to instances of control that occur after the experience has begun (e.g., changing the song, stopping the experience). Given the complex nature of this inner experience, we propose a new model combining and integrating four literatures: lab-based auditory imagery research using musical stimuli; involuntary musical imagery; mental rehearsal and composition in musicians; and in vivo studies of musical imagery in everyday environments. These literatures support the contention that mental control of musical imagery is multi-faceted. Future research should investigate these two components of mental control and better integrate the diverse literatures on musical imagery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katherine N. Cotter
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Keller PE. Mental imagery in music performance: underlying mechanisms and potential benefits. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2012; 1252:206-13. [PMID: 22524361 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06439.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
This paper examines the role of mental imagery in music performance. Self-reports by musicians, and various other sources of anecdotal evidence, suggest that covert auditory, motor, and/or visual imagery facilitate multiple aspects of music performance. The cognitive and motor mechanisms that underlie such imagery include working memory, action simulation, and internal models. Together these mechanisms support the generation of anticipatory images that enable thorough action planning and movement execution that is characterized by efficiency, temporal precision, and biomechanical economy. In ensemble performance, anticipatory imagery may facilitate interpersonal coordination by enhancing online predictions about others' action timing. Overlap in brain regions subserving auditory imagery and temporal prediction is consistent with this view. It is concluded that individual differences in anticipatory imagery may be a source of variation in expressive performance excellence and the quality of ensemble cohesion. Engaging in effortful musical imagery is therefore justified when artistic perfection is the goal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter E Keller
- Music Cognition & Action Group, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|