Moderating variables of music training-induced neuroplasticity: a review and discussion

Abstract

A large body of literature now exists to substantiate the long-held idea that musicians' brains differ structurally and functionally from non-musicians' brains. These differences include changes in volume, morphology, density, connectivity, and function across many regions of the brain. In addition to the extensive literature that investigates these differences cross-sectionally by comparing musicians and non-musicians, longitudinal studies have demonstrated the causal influence of music training on the brain across the lifespan. However, there is a large degree of inconsistency in the findings, with discordance between studies, laboratories, and techniques. A review of this literature highlights a number of variables that appear to moderate the relationship between music training and brain structure and function. These include age at commencement of training, sex, absolute pitch (AP), type of training, and instrument of training. These moderating variables may account for previously unexplained discrepancies in the existing literature, and we propose that future studies carefully consider research designs and methodologies that control for these variables.

Tuning the mind: Exploring the connections between musical ability and executive functions

“…This not only points to an important role of memory updating in musical ability, but also lends some correlational support to the idea that musical experience could influence working memory abilities outside of the musical domain. However, these data also show that musical ability is not related to cognitive abilities across the board, underscoring the need for a more detailed understanding of the relationships between specific aspects of musical experience and specific aspects of cognitive functioning (see also Merrett et al, 2013). Of course, the primary value of musical education is not its potential to lead to cognitive benefits; there are a wide variety of beneficial effects of musical experience, including its emotional (e.g., Chanda & Levitin, 2013;Laukka, 2007) and social effects (e.g., Kirschner & Tomasello, 2010), not to mention the intrinsic value of musical experiences and musical skill.…”

“…Relatedly, while we did assess multiple aspects of musical ability and experience, these are likely only a few of the skills that make up musical ability. In particular, our assessment of musical experience did not assess different types of musical experience, which may show differential relationships to cognitive abilities (Beaty, Smeekens, Silva, Hodges, & Kane, 2013;Carey et al, 2015;Merrett, Peretz, & Wilson, 2013). In addition, our processing tasks measured only melodic and rhythmic discrimination and did not assess musical production, sensitivity to timbre, or any number of other aspects of musical ability.…”

Music and Brain Plasticity: How Sounds Trigger Neurogenerative Adaptations

“…As such, it is possible to distinguish between macrostructural and microstructural adaptations. The macrostructural differences related to volume, morphology, density and connectivity of brain structures are measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whereas the microstructural differences in the functional activity of brain regions are measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET) and neurophysiology (electroencephalography, EEG and magnetoencephalography [MEG]) (see [5] for an overview). It is further hypothesised that functional reorganisation may cause structural adaptation.…”

“…These interactions can be multifarious, as in the case of performing, listening or mentally imaging music, but they all show complex and widespread activity in many areas of the brain. This activity, moreover, is related to training, previous exposure, personal preference, emotional involvement and many other modulating factors related to the cultural background and biological repertoire of each individual [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Musical training, moreover, is related to structural changes within auditory and motor areas of the brain and reinforces functional coupling of these regions during musical tasks as evidenced by many neuroimaging studies [8][9][10].…”

“…Some musicians are even able to perceive and identify tones in the absence of a reference tone, a rare ability termed absolute pitch [27,28]. The brain changes that musical training entails are numerous and well-documented [2,3,5,9,24,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]: they involve brain regions important for auditory processing, coordination of fast movements and cognitive control, as well as sensory-to-motor coupling mechanisms (see [35], for an overview). While some of these changes might be what characterise individuals that decide to undertake a musical profession, and hence might exist at birth, others could be a direct result of training, as suggested by the significant relations between years of training and brain measures (e.g., [36]), as well as by longitudinal designs recording brain responses before and after music training (e.g., [29,37]).…”