High school music classes enhance the neural processing of speech

Abstract

Should music be a priority in public education? One argument for teaching music in school is that private music instruction relates to enhanced language abilities and neural function. However, the directionality of this relationship is unclear and it is unknown whether schoolbased music training can produce these enhancements. Here we show that 2 years of group music classes in high school enhance the neural encoding of speech. To tease apart the relationships between music and neural function, we tested high school students participating in either music or fitness-based training. These groups were matched at the onset of training on neural timing, reading ability, and IQ. Auditory brainstem responses were collected to a synthesized speech sound presented in background noise. After 2 years of training, the neural responses of the music training group were earlier than at pretraining, while the neural timing of students in the fitness training group was unchanged. These results represent the strongest evidence to date that in-school music education can cause enhanced speech encoding. The neural benefits of musical training are, therefore, not limited to expensive private instruction early in childhood but can be elicited by costeffective group instruction during adolescence.

Music training improves speech-in-noise perception: Longitudinal evidence from a community-based music program

“…However, the time course of musical training's impact on speech-in-noise perception in children has not previously been assessed. In line with three recent longitudinal studies demonstrating enhanced neural processing of speech after 2 academic years of music training, but not after a single year [47][48][49], we predicted significant improvements in speech-in-noise perception with 2 years of musical training.…”

“…Specifically, we hypothesized that music training engages and strengthens neural circuitry that is important for speech perception, consistent with Patel's theoretical framework [41]. This is supported by cross-sectional evidence of enhanced neural encoding of speech in musicallytrained children [21,42,43] as well as a small number of longitudinal studies showing effects of music training on speech processing [ [44][45][46][47][48][49]. However, the time course of musical training's impact on speech-in-noise perception in children has not previously been assessed.…”

“…It is notable that in the Chobert et al [48] study (2014), enhanced preattentive processing of acoustic and phonological cues in syllables was observed after 2 academic years of music training but not after 1 year, and this was also the case with a recent study from our laboratory showing enhanced neural processing of speech in adolescents who completed 2 years of music training, compared with active controls participating in fitness-based training [49]. These findings support Patel's suggestion that the plasticity of speech-processing networks with musical training requires repetition [41] and indicate that the transfer of training benefits from music to language not only takes time, but that the time required will vary across individuals.…”

Cortical entrainment to music and its modulation by expertise

“…Still, as both types of complex sounds require the same function, broadly construed-the identification of meaningful units within a continuous sound stream-it is plausible that they perform this function using the same or a similar mechanism. If musical training enhances cortical entrainment to speech for example, as has been reported for auditory brainstem responses (24,27,31,44), then it may provide an explanation for findings related to music and dyslexia.…”

Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

“…differentiate speech sounds to a greater extent (65)(66)(67), track stimulus pitch more accurately (68,69), and are more consistent across trials (59,70). In adolescence, music training leads to faster responses to speech in noise (71), but the extent to which adolescent music training can confer other aspects of the musician signature remains unknown.…”