Changes in auditory cortical thickness following music training in children: converging longitudinal and cross-sectional results.

Changes in auditory cortical thickness following music training in children: converging longitudinal and cross-sectional results. Brain Struct Funct. 2020 Sep 09;: Authors: Habibi A, Ilari B, Heine K, Damasio H Abstract Evidence is accumulating to suggest that music training is associated with structural brain differences in children and in adults. We used magnetic resonance imagining in two studies to investigate neuroanatomical correlates of music training in children. In study 1, we cross-sectionally compared a group of child musician (ages 9-11) matched to non-musicians and found that cortical thickness was greater in child musician in the posterior segment of the right-superior temporal gyrus (STG), an auditory association area that is involved in processing complex auditory stimuli, including pitch. We also found that thickness in the right posterior STG is related to music proficiency, however this relationship did not reach significance. In study 2, a longitudinal study, we investigated change in cortical thickness over a four-year period comparing a group of children involved in a systematic music training program with another group of children who did not have any music training. In this 2nd study we assessed both groups at the beginning of the study, prior to music training for the music group, and four years later. We found that children in the music group showed a strong trend of lower rate of cortical thinning in the ri...
Source: Brain Structure and Function - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain Struct Funct Source Type: research