On the basis of previous results showing that music training positively influences different aspects of speech perception and cognition, the aim of this series of experiments was to test the hypothesis that adult professional musicians would learn the meaning of novel words through picture-word associations more efficiently than controls without music training (i.e., fewer errors and faster RTs). We also expected musicians to show faster changes in brain electrical activity than controls, in particular regarding the N400 component that develops with word learning. In line with these hypotheses, musicians outperformed controls in the most difficult semantic task. Moreover, although a frontally distributed N400 component developed in both groups of participants after only a few minutes of novel word learning, in musicians this frontal distribution rapidly shifted to parietal scalp sites, as typically found for the N400 elicited by known words. Finally, musicians showed evidence for better long-term memory for novel words 5 months after the main experimental session. Results are discussed in terms of cascading effects from enhanced perception to memory as well as in terms of multifaceted improvements of cognitive processing due to music training. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that music training influences semantic aspects of language processing in adults. These results open new perspectives for education in showing that early music training can facilitate later foreign language learning. Moreover, the design used in the present experiment can help to specify the stages of word learning that are impaired in children and adults with word learning difficulties. positively influences different aspects of speech perception and cognition, the aim of this series of experiments was to test the hypothesis that adult professional musicians would learn the meaning of novel words through picture-word associations more efficiently than controls without music training (i.e., fewer errors and faster RTs). We also expected musicians to show faster changes in brain electrical activity than controls, in particular regarding the N400 component that develops with word learning. In line with these hypotheses, musicians outperformed controls in the most difficult semantic task. Moreover, although a frontally distributed N400 component developed in both groups of participants after only a few minutes of novel word learning, in musicians this frontal distribution rapidly shifted to parietal scalp sites, as typically found for the N400 elicited by known words. Finally, musicians showed evidence for better long-term memory for novel words 5 months after the main experimental session. Results are discussed in terms of cascading effects from enhanced perception to memory as well as in terms of multifaceted improvements of cognitive processing due to music training. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that music training influences semantic aspects of language processing in adults. These results o...
The perception of rapidly changing verbal and nonverbal auditory patterns is a fundamental prerequisite for speech and music processing. Previously, the left planum temporale (PT) has been consistently shown to support the discrimination of fast changing verbal and nonverbal sounds. Furthermore, it has been repeatedly shown that the functional and structural architecture of this supratemporal brain region differs as a function of musical training. In the present study, we used the functional magnetic resonance imaging technique, in a sample of professional musicians and nonmusicians, in order to examine the functional contribution of the left PT to the categorization of consonant-vowel syllables and their reduced-spectrum analogues. In line with our hypothesis, the musicians showed enhanced brain responses in the left PT and superior discrimination abilities in the reduced-spectrum condition. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between the responsiveness of the left PT and the performance in the reduced-spectrum condition across all subjects irrespective of musical expertise. These results have implications for our understanding of musical expertise in relation to segmental speech processing.
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