Inter‐individual differences in audio‐motor learning of piano melodies and white matter fiber tract architecture

Abstract

Humans vary substantially in their ability to learn new motor skills. Here, we examined inter-individual differences in learning to play the piano, with the goal of identifying relations to structural properties of white matter fiber tracts relevant to audio-motor learning. Non-musicians (n = 18) learned to perform three short melodies on a piano keyboard in a pure audio-motor training condition (vision of their own fingers was occluded). Initial learning times ranged from 17 to 120 min (mean ± SD: 62 ± 29 min). Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was used to derive the fractional anisotropy (FA), an index of white matter microstructural arrangement. A correlation analysis revealed that higher FA values were associated with faster learning of piano melodies. These effects were observed in the bilateral corticospinal tracts, bundles of axons relevant for the execution of voluntary movements, and the right superior longitudinal fasciculus, a tract important for audio-motor transformations. These results suggest that the speed with which novel complex audio-motor skills can be acquired may be determined by variability in structural properties of white matter fiber tracts connecting brain areas functionally relevant for audio-motor learning.

Can Musical Training Influence Brain Connectivity? Evidence from Diffusion Tensor MRI

“…The only DT-MRI study to date that investigated WM differences induced by musical training suggested that learning speeds showed the strongest correlation with differences in WM architecture [45]. However, the training duration in this study was only three days, so a longer intervention period, such as the 29 months received by the children who participated in the study by Schlaug and colleagues [13,14], may be required for any changes to occur.…”

“…Although no longitudinal studies have to date been performed with DT-MRI to investigate differences in WM architecture pre and post-musical training, Engel and colleagues investigated the speed at which non-musicians ( n = 18) learnt to play short piano melodies in two different training conditions: either a visuo-motor condition in which the participants received no auditory information or an auditory-motor condition where the participants’ view of their hands was obstructed [45]. DT-MRI scans were acquired after 3 days of training, totalling approximately 2–5 h, in one of the two training conditions.…”

Brain white matter changes associated with urological chronic pelvic pain syndrome: multisite neuroimaging from a MAPP case–control study

“…In contrast, increased corticospinal FA is observed with recovery of motor function following diffuse axonal injury [31], and more commonly with motor learning. Across species, learning repetitive motor tasks is associated with increased corticospinal FA, whether it be a human juggling or playing the piano, or song production during a songbird’s mating season [17; 20; 50]. UCPPS-related corticospinal abnormalities may therefore reflect an ongoing refinement and strengthening of motor connections that are relevant to pelvic pain, rather than a selective sparing of this tract.…”

Evaluating predisposition and training in shaping the musician's brain: the need for a developmental perspective

“…Meanwhile, emerging evidence suggests that neural predispositions may predict subsequent rates of learning music. A neuroimaging study in adults examined whether white matter structure prior to the onset of music training may predict subsequent learning speed in adults without previous musical experience . A positive relationship was observed between the bilateral corticospinal tract and right superior longitudinal fasciculus with the speed of learning to play short piano melodies over the course of 3 training days .…”