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James CE, Tingaud M, Laera G, Guedj C, Zuber S, Diambrini Palazzi R, Vukovic S, Richiardi J, Kliegel M, Marie D. Cognitive enrichment through art: a randomized controlled trial on the effect of music or visual arts group practice on cognitive and brain development of young children. BMC Complement Med Ther 2024; 24:141. [PMID: 38575952 PMCID: PMC10993461 DOI: 10.1186/s12906-024-04433-1] [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] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The optimal stimulation for brain development in the early academic years remains unclear. Current research suggests that musical training has a more profound impact on children's executive functions (EF) compared to other art forms. What is crucially lacking is a large-scale, long-term genuine randomized controlled trial (RCT) in cognitive neuroscience, comparing musical instrumental training (MIP) to another art form, and a control group (CG). This study aims to fill this gap by using machine learning to develop a multivariate model that tracks the interconnected brain and EF development during the academic years, with or without music or other art training. METHODS The study plans to enroll 150 children aged 6-8 years and randomly assign them to three groups: Orchestra in Class (OC), Visual Arts (VA), and a control group (CG). Anticipating a 30% attrition rate, each group aims to retain at least 35 participants. The research consists of three analytical stages: 1) baseline analysis correlating EF, brain data, age, gender, and socioeconomic status, 2) comparison between groups and over time of EF brain and behavioral development and their interactions, including hypothesis testing, and 3) exploratory analysis combining behavioral and brain data. The intervention includes intensive art classes once a week, and incremental home training over two years, with the CG receiving six annual cultural outings. DISCUSSION This study examines the potential benefits of intensive group arts education, especially contrasting music with visual arts, on EF development in children. It will investigate how artistic enrichment potentially influences the presumed typical transition from a more unified to a more multifaceted EF structure around age eight, comparing these findings against a minimally enriched active control group. This research could significantly influence the incorporation of intensive art interventions in standard curricula. TRIAL REGISTRATION The project was accepted after peer-review by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF no. 100014_214977) on March 29, 2023. The study protocol received approval from the Cantonal Commission for Ethics in Human Research of Geneva (CCER, BASEC-ID 2023-01016), which is part of Swiss ethics, on October 25, 2023. The study is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05912270).
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Affiliation(s)
- C E James
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland HES-SO, Geneva School of Health Sciences, Geneva Musical Minds lab (GEMMI lab), Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 101, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - M Tingaud
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland HES-SO, Geneva School of Health Sciences, Geneva Musical Minds lab (GEMMI lab), Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - G Laera
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland HES-SO, Geneva School of Health Sciences, Geneva Musical Minds lab (GEMMI lab), Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 101, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Chemin de Pinchat 22, 1227, Carouge (Genève), Switzerland
| | - C Guedj
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland HES-SO, Geneva School of Health Sciences, Geneva Musical Minds lab (GEMMI lab), Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
- CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging, Cognitive and Affective Neuroimaging section, University of Geneva, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - S Zuber
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Chemin de Pinchat 22, 1227, Carouge (Genève), Switzerland
| | | | - S Vukovic
- Haute école pédagogique de Vaud (HEP; University of Teacher Education, State of Vaud), Avenue de Cour 33, Lausanne, 1014, Switzerland
| | - J Richiardi
- Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Rue du Bugnon 21, Lausanne, 1011, Switzerland
| | - M Kliegel
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Boulevard Carl-Vogt 101, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Chemin de Pinchat 22, 1227, Carouge (Genève), Switzerland
| | - D Marie
- University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland HES-SO, Geneva School of Health Sciences, Geneva Musical Minds lab (GEMMI lab), Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Geneva, Switzerland
- CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging, Cognitive and Affective Neuroimaging section, University of Geneva, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
- Brain and Behaviour Laboratory, Centre Médical Universitaire, University of Geneva, Rue Michel-Servet 1, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland
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MacLean J, Stirn J, Sisson A, Bidelman GM. Short- and long-term neuroplasticity interact during the perceptual learning of concurrent speech. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad543. [PMID: 38212291 PMCID: PMC10839853 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad543] [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] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica MacLean
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Jack Stirn
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Alexandria Sisson
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Gavin M Bidelman
- Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
- Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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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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Neves L, Correia AI, Castro SL, Martins D, Lima CF. Does music training enhance auditory and linguistic processing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of behavioral and brain evidence. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 140:104777. [PMID: 35843347 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
It is often claimed that music training improves auditory and linguistic skills. Results of individual studies are mixed, however, and most evidence is correlational, precluding inferences of causation. Here, we evaluated data from 62 longitudinal studies that examined whether music training programs affect behavioral and brain measures of auditory and linguistic processing (N = 3928). For the behavioral data, a multivariate meta-analysis revealed a small positive effect of music training on both auditory and linguistic measures, regardless of the type of assignment (random vs. non-random), training (instrumental vs. non-instrumental), and control group (active vs. passive). The trim-and-fill method provided suggestive evidence of publication bias, but meta-regression methods (PET-PEESE) did not. For the brain data, a narrative synthesis also documented benefits of music training, namely for measures of auditory processing and for measures of speech and prosody processing. Thus, the available literature provides evidence that music training produces small neurobehavioral enhancements in auditory and linguistic processing, although future studies are needed to confirm that such enhancements are not due to publication bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonor Neves
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Ana Isabel Correia
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
| | - São Luís Castro
- Centro de Psicologia da Universidade do Porto (CPUP), Faculdade de Psicologia e de Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto (FPCEUP), Porto, Portugal
| | - Daniel Martins
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK; NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - César F Lima
- Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal.
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Parker A, Skoe E, Tecoulesco L, Naigles L. A Home-Based Approach to Auditory Brainstem Response Measurement: Proof-of-Concept and Practical Guidelines. Semin Hear 2022; 43:177-196. [PMID: 36313050 PMCID: PMC9605808 DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1756163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Broad-scale neuroscientific investigations of diverse human populations are difficult to implement. This is because the primary neuroimaging methods (magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography [EEG]) historically have not been portable, and participants may be unable or unwilling to travel to test sites. Miniaturization of EEG technologies has now opened the door to neuroscientific fieldwork, allowing for easier access to under-represented populations. Recent efforts to conduct auditory neuroscience outside a laboratory setting are reviewed and then an in-home technique for recording auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and frequency-following responses (FFRs) in a home setting is introduced. As a proof of concept, we have conducted two in-home electrophysiological studies: one in 27 children aged 6 to 16 years (13 with autism spectrum disorder) and another in 12 young adults aged 18 to 27 years, using portable electrophysiological equipment to record ABRs and FFRs to click and speech stimuli, spanning rural and urban and multiple homes and testers. We validate our fieldwork approach by presenting waveforms and data on latencies and signal-to-noise ratio. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility and utility of home-based ABR/FFR techniques, paving the course for larger fieldwork investigations of populations that are difficult to test or recruit. We conclude this tutorial with practical tips and guidelines for recording ABRs and FFRs in the field and discuss possible clinical and research applications of this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley Parker
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Connecticut Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
| | - Erika Skoe
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Connecticut Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Cognitive Sciences Program, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - Lee Tecoulesco
- Cognitive Sciences Program, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - Letitia Naigles
- Connecticut Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Cognitive Sciences Program, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
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6
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Rhythm discrimination and metronome tapping in 4-year-old children at risk for developmental dyslexia. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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7
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Eccles R, van der Linde J, le Roux M, Holloway J, MacCutcheon D, Ljung R, Swanepoel DW. Is Phonological Awareness Related to Pitch, Rhythm, and Speech-in-Noise Discrimination in Young Children? Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch 2020; 52:383-395. [PMID: 33464981 DOI: 10.1044/2020_lshss-20-00032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose Phonological awareness (PA) requires the complex integration of language, speech, and auditory processing abilities. Enhanced pitch and rhythm discrimination have been shown to improve PA and speech-in-noise (SiN) discrimination. The screening of pitch and rhythm discrimination, if nonlinguistic correlates of these abilities, could contribute to screening procedures prior to diagnostic assessment. This research aimed to determine the association of PA abilities with pitch, rhythm, and SiN discrimination in children aged 5-7 years old. Method Forty-one participants' pitch, rhythm, and SiN discrimination and PA abilities were evaluated. To control for confounding factors, including biological and environmental risk exposure and gender differences, typically developing male children from high socioeconomic statuses were selected. Pearson correlation was used to identify associations between variables, and stepwise regression analysis was used to identify possible predictors of PA. Results Correlations of medium strength were identified between PA and pitch, rhythm, and SiN discrimination. Pitch and diotic digit-in-noise discrimination formed the strongest regression model (adjusted R 2 = .4213, r = .649) for phoneme-grapheme correspondence. Conclusions The current study demonstrates predictive relationships between the complex auditory discrimination skills of pitch, rhythm, and diotic digit-in-noise recognition and foundational phonemic awareness and phonic skills in young males from high socioeconomic statuses. Pitch, rhythm, and digit-in-noise discrimination measures hold potential as screening measures for delays in phonemic awareness and phonic difficulties and as components of stimulation programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renata Eccles
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Jeannie van der Linde
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Mia le Roux
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Jenny Holloway
- Data Science Research Group, Operational Intelligence, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Next Generation Enterprises and Institutions, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Douglas MacCutcheon
- Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Högskolan i Gävle, Sweden
| | - Robert Ljung
- Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, Högskolan i Gävle, Sweden
| | - De Wet Swanepoel
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
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James CE, Zuber S, Dupuis-Lozeron E, Abdili L, Gervaise D, Kliegel M. Formal String Instrument Training in a Class Setting Enhances Cognitive and Sensorimotor Development of Primary School Children. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:567. [PMID: 32612501 PMCID: PMC7309442 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
This cluster randomized controlled trial provides evidence that focused musical instrumental practice, in comparison to traditional sensitization to music, provokes multiple transfer effects in the cognitive and sensorimotor domain. Over the last 2 years of primary school (10-12 years old), 69 children received group music instruction by professional musicians twice a week as part of the regular school curriculum. The intervention group learned to play string instruments, whereas the control group (i.e., peers in parallel classes) was sensitized to music via listening, theory and some practice. Broad benefits manifested in the intervention group as compared to the control group for working memory, attention, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, matrix reasoning, sensorimotor hand function, and bimanual coordination Apparently, learning to play a complex instrument in a dynamic group setting impacts development much stronger than classical sensitization to music. Our results therefore highlight the added value of intensive musical instrumental training in a group setting within the school curriculum. These results encourage general implementation of such training in public primary schools, thus better preparing children for secondary school and for daily living activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clara E. James
- Geneva School of Health Sciences, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sascha Zuber
- Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Swiss National Centre of Competences in Research LIVES–Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives (NCCR Lives), Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Elise Dupuis-Lozeron
- Clinical Research Centre and Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Geneva University Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Laura Abdili
- Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Diane Gervaise
- Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Kliegel
- Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Gerontology and Vulnerability, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Swiss National Centre of Competences in Research LIVES–Overcoming Vulnerability: Life Course Perspectives (NCCR Lives), Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Musicians use speech-specific areas when processing tones: The key to their superior linguistic competence? Behav Brain Res 2020; 390:112662. [PMID: 32442547 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
It is known that musicians compared to non-musicians have some superior speech and language competence, yet the mechanisms how musical training leads to this advantage are not well specified. This event-related fMRI study confirmed that musicians outperformed non-musicians in processing not only of musical tones but also syllables and identified a network differentiating musicians from non-musicians during processing of linguistic sounds. Within this network, the activation of bilateral superior temporal gyrus was shared with all subjects during processing of the acoustically well-matched musical and linguistic sounds, and with the activation distinguishing tones with a complex harmonic spectrum (bowed tone) from a simpler one (plucked tone). These results confirm that better speech processing in musicians relies on improved cross-domain spectral analysis. Activation of left posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), premotor cortex, inferior frontal and fusiform gyrus (FG) also distinguishing musicians from non-musicians during syllable processing overlapped with the activation segregating linguistic from musical sounds in all subjects. Since these brain-regions were not involved during tone processing in non-musicians, they could code for functions which are specialized for speech. Musicians recruited pSTS and FG during tone processing, thus these speech-specialized brain-areas processed musical sounds in the presence of musical training. This study shows that the linguistic advantage of musicians is linked not only to improved cross-domain spectral analysis, but also to the functional adaptation of brain resources that are specialized for speech, but accessible to the domain of music in the presence of musical training.
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Carioti D, Danelli L, Guasti MT, Gallucci M, Perugini M, Steca P, Stucchi NA, Maffezzoli A, Majno M, Berlingeri M, Paulesu E. Music Education at School: Too Little and Too Late? Evidence From a Longitudinal Study on Music Training in Preadolescents. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2704. [PMID: 31920782 PMCID: PMC6930811 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2019] [Accepted: 11/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
It is widely believed that intensive music training can boost cognitive and visuo-motor skills. However, this evidence is primarily based on retrospective studies; this makes it difficult to determine whether a cognitive advantage is caused by the intensive music training, or it is instead a factor influencing the choice of starting a music curriculum. To address these issues in a highly ecological setting, we tested longitudinally 128 students of a Middle School in Milan, at the beginning of the first class and, 1 year later, at the beginning of the second class. 72 students belonged to a Music curriculum (30 with previous music experience and 42 without) and 56 belonged to a Standard curriculum (44 with prior music experience and 12 without). Using a Principal Component Analysis, all the cognitive measures were grouped in four high-order factors, reflecting (a) General Cognitive Abilities, (b) Speed of Linguistic Elaboration, (c) Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests, and (d) Visuospatial and numerical skills. The longitudinal comparison of the four groups of students revealed that students from the Music curriculum had better performance in tests tackling General Cognitive Abilities, Visuospatial skills, and Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests. However, there were no significant curriculum-by-time interactions. Finally, the decision to have a musical experience before entering middle school was more likely to occur when the cultural background of the families was a high one. We conclude that a combination of family-related variables, early music experience, and pre-existent cognitive make-up is a likely explanation for the decision to enter a music curriculum at middle school.
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Affiliation(s)
- Desiré Carioti
- Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
| | - Laura Danelli
- Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria T. Guasti
- Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Marco Perugini
- Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Patrizia Steca
- Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | | | | | - Maria Majno
- SONG onlus – Sistema in Lombardia, Milan, Italy
| | - Manuela Berlingeri
- Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
- Center of Developmental Neuropsychology, ASUR Marche, Pesaro, Italy
- NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Eraldo Paulesu
- Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
- I.R.C.C.S. Galeazzi, Orthopedic Institute Milano, Milan, Italy
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Barbaroux M, Dittinger E, Besson M. Music training with Démos program positively influences cognitive functions in children from low socio-economic backgrounds. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216874. [PMID: 31095606 PMCID: PMC6522123 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
This study aimed at evaluating the impact of a classic music training program (Démos) on several aspects of the cognitive development of children from low socio-economic backgrounds. We were specifically interested in general intelligence, phonological awareness and reading abilities, and in other cognitive abilities that may be improved by music training such as auditory and visual attention, working and short-term memory and visuomotor precision. We used a longitudinal approach with children presented with standardized tests before the start and after 18 months of music training. To test for pre-to-post training improvements while discarding maturation and developmental effects, raw scores for each child and for each test were normalized relative to their age group. Results showed that Démos music training improved musicality scores, total IQ and Symbol Search scores as well as concentration abilities and reading precision. In line with previous results, these findings demonstrate the positive impact of an ecologically-valid music training program on the cognitive development of children from low socio-economic backgrounds and strongly encourage the broader implementation of such programs in disadvantaged school-settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mylène Barbaroux
- CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC, UMR 7291), Marseille, France
| | - Eva Dittinger
- CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC, UMR 7291), Marseille, France
- CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire Parole et Langage (LPL, UMR 7309), Aix-en-Provence, France
- Brain and Language Research Institute (BLRI), Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Mireille Besson
- CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives (LNC, UMR 7291), Marseille, France
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Zuk J, Perdue MV, Becker B, Yu X, Chang M, Raschle NM, Gaab N. Neural correlates of phonological processing: Disrupted in children with dyslexia and enhanced in musically trained children. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2018; 34:82-91. [PMID: 30103188 PMCID: PMC6481189 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2017] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
First fMRI investigation of phonological processing in musically trained children. Greater bilateral activation with music training in regions disrupted in dyslexia. Implications for music training to support compensatory neural network in dyslexia.
Phonological processing has been postulated as a core area of deficit among children with dyslexia. Reduced brain activation during phonological processing in children with dyslexia has been observed in left-hemispheric temporoparietal regions. Musical training has shown positive associations with phonological processing abilities, but the neural mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unspecified. The present research aims to distinguish neural correlates of phonological processing in school-age typically developing musically trained children, musically untrained children, and musically untrained children with dyslexia utilizing fMRI. A whole-brain ANCOVA, accounting for gender and nonverbal cognitive abilities, identified a main effect of group in bilateral temporoparietal regions. Subsequent region-of-interest analyses replicated temporoparietal hypoactivation in children with dyslexia relative to typically developing children. By contrast, musically trained children showed greater bilateral activation in temporoparietal regions when compared to each musically untrained group. Therefore, musical training shows associations with enhanced bilateral activation of left-hemispheric regions known to be important for reading. Findings suggest that engagement of these regions through musical training may underlie the putative positive effects of music on reading development. This supports the hypothesis that musical training may facilitate the development of a bilateral compensatory neural network, which aids children with atypical function in left-hemispheric temporoparietal regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Zuk
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Meaghan V Perdue
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06268, USA
| | - Bryce Becker
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Xi Yu
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michelle Chang
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nora Maria Raschle
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Basel, Psychiatric University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Nadine Gaab
- Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Division of Developmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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13
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Swaminathan S, Schellenberg EG. Musical Competence is Predicted by Music Training, Cognitive Abilities, and Personality. Sci Rep 2018; 8:9223. [PMID: 29907812 PMCID: PMC6003980 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-27571-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 06/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals differ in musical competence, which we defined as the ability to perceive, remember, and discriminate sequences of tones or beats. We asked whether such differences could be explained by variables other than music training, including socioeconomic status (SES), short-term memory, general cognitive ability, and personality. In a sample of undergraduates, musical competence had positive simple associations with duration of music training, SES, short-term memory, general cognitive ability, and openness-to-experience. When these predictors were considered jointly, musical competence had positive partial associations with music training, general cognitive ability, and openness. Nevertheless, moderation analyses revealed that the partial association between musical competence and music training was evident only among participants who scored below the mean on our measure of general cognitive ability. Moreover, general cognitive ability and openness had indirect associations with musical competence by predicting music training, which in turn predicted musical competence. Musical competence appears to be the result of multiple factors, including but not limited to music training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swathi Swaminathan
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, L5L 1C6, Canada
| | - E Glenn Schellenberg
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, L5L 1C6, Canada.
- Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 2C5, Canada.
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14
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Abstract
Several studies have suggested that intensive musical training enhances children's linguistic skills. Such training, however, is not available to all children. We studied in a community setting whether a low-cost, weekly music playschool provided to 5-6-year-old children in kindergartens could already affect their linguistic abilities. Children (N = 66) were tested four times over two school-years with Phoneme processing and Vocabulary subtests, along with tests for Perceptual reasoning skills and Inhibitory control. We compared the development of music playschool children to their peers either attending to similarly organized dance lessons or not attending to either activity. Music playschool significantly improved the development of children's phoneme processing and vocabulary skills. No such improvements on children's scores for non-verbal reasoning and inhibition were obtained. Our data suggest that even playful group music activities - if attended to for several years - have a positive effect on pre-schoolers' linguistic skills. Therefore we promote the concept of implementing regular music playschool lessons given by professional teachers in early childhood education.
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15
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Ireland K, Parker A, Foster N, Penhune V. Rhythm and Melody Tasks for School-Aged Children With and Without Musical Training: Age-Equivalent Scores and Reliability. Front Psychol 2018; 9:426. [PMID: 29674984 PMCID: PMC5895917 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Measuring musical abilities in childhood can be challenging. When music training and maturation occur simultaneously, it is difficult to separate the effects of specific experience from age-based changes in cognitive and motor abilities. The goal of this study was to develop age-equivalent scores for two measures of musical ability that could be reliably used with school-aged children (7–13) with and without musical training. The children's Rhythm Synchronization Task (c-RST) and the children's Melody Discrimination Task (c-MDT) were adapted from adult tasks developed and used in our laboratories. The c-RST is a motor task in which children listen and then try to synchronize their taps with the notes of a woodblock rhythm while it plays twice in a row. The c-MDT is a perceptual task in which the child listens to two melodies and decides if the second was the same or different. We administered these tasks to 213 children in music camps (musicians, n = 130) and science camps (non-musicians, n = 83). We also measured children's paced tapping, non-paced tapping, and phonemic discrimination as baseline motor and auditory abilities We estimated internal-consistency reliability for both tasks, and compared children's performance to results from studies with adults. As expected, musically trained children outperformed those without music lessons, scores decreased as difficulty increased, and older children performed the best. Using non-musicians as a reference group, we generated a set of age-based z-scores, and used them to predict task performance with additional years of training. Years of lessons significantly predicted performance on both tasks, over and above the effect of age. We also assessed the relation between musician's scores on music tasks, baseline tasks, auditory working memory, and non-verbal reasoning. Unexpectedly, musician children outperformed non-musicians in two of three baseline tasks. The c-RST and c-MDT fill an important need for researchers interested in evaluating the impact of musical training in longitudinal studies, those interested in comparing the efficacy of different training methods, and for those assessing the impact of training on non-musical cognitive abilities such as language processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kierla Ireland
- Penhune Laboratory for Motor Learning and Neural Plasticity, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Averil Parker
- Penhune Laboratory for Motor Learning and Neural Plasticity, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Nicholas Foster
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Virginia Penhune
- Penhune Laboratory for Motor Learning and Neural Plasticity, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research, Montreal, QC, Canada
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16
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Dumont E, Syurina EV, Feron FJM, van Hooren S. Music Interventions and Child Development: A Critical Review and Further Directions. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1694. [PMID: 29033877 PMCID: PMC5626863 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2016] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the impact of music interventions has indicated positive effects on a variety of skills. These findings suggest musical interventions may have further potential to support educational processes and development of children. This paper reviews the latest evidence on the effect of musical interventions on the development of primary school-aged children. Four electronic databases were searched from January 2010 through June 2016 using music, music instruction, music education, music lesson, music training, development, child, student, and pupil as key words for the search. Two reviewers independently evaluated the studies to determine whether they met the stated inclusion criteria. Studies were compared on study setup, methodological quality, intervention components, outcome variables, and efficacy. A review of these selected studies (n = 46) suggestive beneficial effects of music intervention on development of children, although clear conclusions cannot be drawn. Possible influencing factors that might contribute to the outcome of intervention are reviewed and recommendations for further research are made.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Dumont
- Music in Education, Zuyd University of Applied Science, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Elena V Syurina
- Health, Ethics and Society, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.,Faculty of Science, Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Frans J M Feron
- Social Medicine, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| | - Susan van Hooren
- Healthcare, Zuyd University of Applied Science, Maastricht, Netherlands
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17
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Colling LJ, Noble HL, Goswami U. Neural Entrainment and Sensorimotor Synchronization to the Beat in Children with Developmental Dyslexia: An EEG Study. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:360. [PMID: 28747870 PMCID: PMC5506338 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2016] [Accepted: 06/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Tapping in time to a metronome beat (hereafter beat synchronization) shows considerable variability in child populations, and individual differences in beat synchronization are reliably related to reading development. Children with developmental dyslexia show impairments in beat synchronization. These impairments may reflect deficiencies in auditory perception of the beat which in turn affect auditory-motor mapping, or may reflect an independent motor deficit. Here, we used a new methodology in EEG based on measuring beat-related steady-state evoked potentials (SS-EPs, Nozaradan et al., 2015) in an attempt to disentangle neural sensory and motor contributions to behavioral beat synchronization in children with dyslexia. Children tapped with both their left and right hands to every second beat of a metronome pulse delivered at 2.4 Hz, or listened passively to the beat. Analyses of preferred phase in EEG showed that the children with dyslexia had a significantly different preferred phase compared to control children in all conditions. Regarding SS-EPs, the groups differed significantly for the passive Auditory listening condition at 2.4 Hz, and showed a trend toward a difference in the Right hand tapping condition at 3.6 Hz (sensorimotor integration measure). The data suggest that neural rhythmic entrainment is atypical in children with dyslexia for both an auditory beat and during sensorimotor coupling (tapping). The data are relevant to a growing literature suggesting that rhythm-based interventions may help language processing in children with developmental disorders of language learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lincoln J Colling
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of CambridgeCambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah L Noble
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of CambridgeCambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Usha Goswami
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Neuroscience in Education, University of CambridgeCambridge, United Kingdom
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18
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Abstract
It is clear that environmental influences impact the structure and function of the human brain, and thus, thoughts, actions, and behaviors. These in turn influence whether an individual engages in high-risk (drugs, alcohol, violence) or health-promoting (exercise, meditation, music) activities. The developmental mismatch between cortical and subcortical maturation of the transitional age brain places college students at risk for negative outcomes. This article argues that the prescription of incentive-based behavioral change and brain-building activities simply make good scientific, programmatic, and financial sense for colleges and universities. The authors present University of Vermont Wellness Environment as an example.
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19
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Slater J, Azem A, Nicol T, Swedenborg B, Kraus N. Variations on the theme of musical expertise: cognitive and sensory processing in percussionists, vocalists and non-musicians. Eur J Neurosci 2017; 45:952-963. [PMID: 28177157 PMCID: PMC5378620 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Revised: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 01/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Comparisons of musicians and non-musicians have revealed enhanced cognitive and sensory processing in musicians, with longitudinal studies suggesting these enhancements may be due in part to experience-based plasticity. Here, we investigate the impact of primary instrument on the musician signature of expertise by assessing three groups of young adults: percussionists, vocalists, and non-musician controls. We hypothesize that primary instrument engenders selective enhancements reflecting the most salient acoustic features to that instrument, whereas cognitive functions are enhanced regardless of instrument. Consistent with our hypotheses, percussionists show more precise encoding of the fast-changing acoustic features of speech than non-musicians, whereas vocalists have better frequency discrimination and show stronger encoding of speech harmonics than non-musicians. There were no strong advantages to specialization in sight-reading vs. improvisation. These effects represent subtle nuances to the signature since the musician groups do not differ from each other in these measures. Interestingly, percussionists outperform both non-musicians and vocalists in inhibitory control. Follow-up analyses reveal that within the vocalists and non-musicians, better proficiency on an instrument other than voice is correlated with better inhibitory control. Taken together, these outcomes suggest the more extensive engagement of motor systems during instrumental practice may be an important factor for enhancements in inhibitory control, consistent with evidence for overlapping neural circuitry involved in both motor and cognitive control. These findings contribute to the ongoing refinement of the musician signature of expertise and may help to inform the use of music in training and intervention to strengthen cognitive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Slater
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
| | - Andrea Azem
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
| | - Trent Nicol
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
| | - Britta Swedenborg
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
| | - Nina Kraus
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory (www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu), Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois USA
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20
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Mossbridge J, Zweig J, Grabowecky M, Suzuki S. An Association between Auditory-Visual Synchrony Processing and Reading Comprehension: Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence. J Cogn Neurosci 2017; 29:435-447. [PMID: 28129060 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The perceptual system integrates synchronized auditory-visual signals in part to promote individuation of objects in cluttered environments. The processing of auditory-visual synchrony may more generally contribute to cognition by synchronizing internally generated multimodal signals. Reading is a prime example because the ability to synchronize internal phonological and/or lexical processing with visual orthographic processing may facilitate encoding of words and meanings. Consistent with this possibility, developmental and clinical research has suggested a link between reading performance and the ability to compare visual spatial/temporal patterns with auditory temporal patterns. Here, we provide converging behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggesting that greater behavioral ability to judge auditory-visual synchrony (Experiment 1) and greater sensitivity of an electrophysiological marker of auditory-visual synchrony processing (Experiment 2) both predict superior reading comprehension performance, accounting for 16% and 25% of the variance, respectively. These results support the idea that the mechanisms that detect auditory-visual synchrony contribute to reading comprehension.
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21
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The Janus Face of Auditory Learning: How Life in Sound Shapes Everyday Communication. THE FREQUENCY-FOLLOWING RESPONSE 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47944-6_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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22
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Kraus N, White-Schwoch T. Neurobiology of Everyday Communication: What Have We Learned From Music? Neuroscientist 2016; 23:287-298. [PMID: 27284021 DOI: 10.1177/1073858416653593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Sound is an invisible but powerful force that is central to everyday life. Studies in the neurobiology of everyday communication seek to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying sound processing, their stability, their plasticity, and their links to language abilities and disabilities. This sound processing lies at the nexus of cognitive, sensorimotor, and reward networks. Music provides a powerful experimental model to understand these biological foundations of communication, especially with regard to auditory learning. We review studies of music training that employ a biological approach to reveal the integrity of sound processing in the brain, the bearing these mechanisms have on everyday communication, and how these processes are shaped by experience. Together, these experiments illustrate that music works in synergistic partnerships with language skills and the ability to make sense of speech in complex, everyday listening environments. The active, repeated engagement with sound demanded by music making augments the neural processing of speech, eventually cascading to listening and language. This generalization from music to everyday communications illustrates both that these auditory brain mechanisms have a profound potential for plasticity and that sound processing is biologically intertwined with listening and language skills. A new wave of studies has pushed neuroscience beyond the traditional laboratory by revealing the effects of community music training in underserved populations. These community-based studies reinforce laboratory work highlight how the auditory system achieves a remarkable balance between stability and flexibility in processing speech. Moreover, these community studies have the potential to inform health care, education, and social policy by lending a neurobiological perspective to their efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Kraus
- 1 Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory ( www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu ) and Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.,2 Department of Neurobiology & Physiology and Department of Otolaryngology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
| | - Travis White-Schwoch
- 1 Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory ( www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu ) and Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
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23
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Neural Mechanisms Underlying Musical Pitch Perception and Clinical Applications Including Developmental Dyslexia. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2016; 15:51. [PMID: 26092314 DOI: 10.1007/s11910-015-0574-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Music production and perception invoke a complex set of cognitive functions that rely on the integration of sensorimotor, cognitive, and emotional pathways. Pitch is a fundamental perceptual attribute of sound and a building block for both music and speech. Although the cerebral processing of pitch is not completely understood, recent advances in imaging and electrophysiology have provided insight into the functional and anatomical pathways of pitch processing. This review examines the current understanding of pitch processing and behavioral and neural variations that give rise to difficulties in pitch processing, and potential applications of music education for language processing disorders such as dyslexia.
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24
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Habibi A, Cahn BR, Damasio A, Damasio H. Neural correlates of accelerated auditory processing in children engaged in music training. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2016; 21:1-14. [PMID: 27490304 PMCID: PMC6987702 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Revised: 04/07/2016] [Accepted: 04/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Several studies comparing adult musicians and non-musicians have shown that music training is associated with brain differences. It is unknown, however, whether these differences result from lengthy musical training, from pre-existing biological traits, or from social factors favoring musicality. As part of an ongoing 5-year longitudinal study, we investigated the effects of a music training program on the auditory development of children, over the course of two years, beginning at age 6–7. The training was group-based and inspired by El-Sistema. We compared the children in the music group with two comparison groups of children of the same socio-economic background, one involved in sports training, another not involved in any systematic training. Prior to participating, children who began training in music did not differ from those in the comparison groups in any of the assessed measures. After two years, we now observe that children in the music group, but not in the two comparison groups, show an enhanced ability to detect changes in tonal environment and an accelerated maturity of auditory processing as measured by cortical auditory evoked potentials to musical notes. Our results suggest that music training may result in stimulus specific brain changes in school aged children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assal Habibi
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
| | - B Rael Cahn
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Antonio Damasio
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Hanna Damasio
- Brain and Creativity Institute, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
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25
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Tierney A, Kraus N. Getting back on the beat: links between auditory–motor integration and precise auditory processing at fast time scales. Eur J Neurosci 2016; 43:782-91. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.13171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2015] [Revised: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 01/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Tierney
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory Institute for Neuroscience Department of Communication Sciences Northwestern University 2240 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60208 USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Physiology Northwestern University 2240 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60208 USA
- Department of Otolaryngology Northwestern University 2240 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60208 USA
| | - Nina Kraus
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory Institute for Neuroscience Department of Communication Sciences Northwestern University 2240 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60208 USA
- Department of Neurobiology and Physiology Northwestern University 2240 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60208 USA
- Department of Otolaryngology Northwestern University 2240 Campus Drive Evanston IL 60208 USA
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26
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Welch GF, Saunders J, Edwards S, Palmer Z, Himonides E, Knight J, Mahon M, Griffin S, Vickers DA. Using singing to nurture children's hearing? A pilot study. Cochlear Implants Int 2015; 16 Suppl 3:S63-70. [DOI: 10.1179/1467010015z.000000000276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
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27
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Abstract
Fundamental changes in brain structure and function during adolescence are well-characterized, but the extent to which experience modulates adolescent neurodevelopment is not. Musical experience provides an ideal case for examining this question because the influence of music training begun early in life is well-known. We investigated the effects of in-school music training, previously shown to enhance auditory skills, versus another in-school training program that did not focus on development of auditory skills (active control). We tested adolescents on neural responses to sound and language skills before they entered high school (pretraining) and again 3 y later. Here, we show that in-school music training begun in high school prolongs the stability of subcortical sound processing and accelerates maturation of cortical auditory responses. Although phonological processing improved in both the music training and active control groups, the enhancement was greater in adolescents who underwent music training. Thus, music training initiated as late as adolescence can enhance neural processing of sound and confer benefits for language skills. These results establish the potential for experience-driven brain plasticity during adolescence and demonstrate that in-school programs can engender these changes.
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28
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Kraus N, Strait DL. Emergence of biological markers of musicianship with school-based music instruction. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2015; 1337:163-9. [PMID: 25773631 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.12631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Musician children and adults demonstrate biological distinctions in auditory processing relative to nonmusicians. For example, musician children and adults have more robust neural encoding of speech harmonics, more adaptive sound processing, and more precise neural encoding of acoustically similar sounds; these enhancements may contribute to musicians' linguistic advantages, such as for hearing speech in noise and reading. Such findings have inspired proposals that the auditory and cognitive stimulation induced by musical practice renders musicians enhanced according to biological metrics germane to communication. Cross-sectional methodologies comparing musicians with nonmusicians, however, are limited by the inability to disentangle training-related effects from demographic and innate qualities that may predistinguish musicians. Over the past several years, our laboratory has addressed this problem by examining the emergence of neural markers of musicianship in children and adolescents using longitudinal approaches to track the development of biological indices of speech processing. This work was conducted in partnership with successful community-based music programs, thus avoiding reliance on a synthetic program for the purposes of laboratory study. Outcomes indicate that many of musicians' auditory-related biological enhancements emerge with training and may promote the acquisition of language skills, including in at-risk populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Kraus
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Department of Communication Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois; Department of Otolaryngology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
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29
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Kraus N, Slater J. Music and language. THE HUMAN AUDITORY SYSTEM - FUNDAMENTAL ORGANIZATION AND CLINICAL DISORDERS 2015; 129:207-22. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-62630-1.00012-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
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30
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Kraus N, Hornickel J, Strait DL, Slater J, Thompson E. Engagement in community music classes sparks neuroplasticity and language development in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Front Psychol 2014; 5:1403. [PMID: 25566109 PMCID: PMC4268440 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2014] [Accepted: 11/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds often face impoverished auditory environments, such as greater exposure to ambient noise and fewer opportunities to participate in complex language interactions during development. These circumstances increase their risk for academic failure and dropout. Given the academic and neural benefits associated with musicianship, music training may be one method for providing auditory enrichment to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We followed a group of primary-school students from gang reduction zones in Los Angeles, CA, USA for 2 years as they participated in Harmony Project. By providing free community music instruction for disadvantaged children, Harmony Project promotes the healthy development of children as learners, the development of children as ambassadors of peace and understanding, and the development of stronger communities. Children who were more engaged in the music program-as defined by better attendance and classroom participation-developed stronger brain encoding of speech after 2 years than their less-engaged peers in the program. Additionally, children who were more engaged in the program showed increases in reading scores, while those less engaged did not show improvements. The neural gains accompanying music engagement were seen in the very measures of neural speech processing that are weaker in children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Our results suggest that community music programs such as Harmony Project provide a form of auditory enrichment that counteracts some of the biological adversities of growing up in poverty, and can further support community-based interventions aimed at improving child health and wellness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Kraus
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, Neurobiology & Physiology and Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern UniversityChicago, IL, USA
| | - Jane Hornickel
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL, USA
- Data Sense LLCChicago, IL, USA
| | - Dana L. Strait
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL, USA
| | - Jessica Slater
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL, USA
| | - Elaine Thompson
- Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern UniversityEvanston, IL, USA
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