Study on Brain Plasticity of Music Training Based on Network Technology

THIS ARTICLE SUMMARIZES THE MAIN EVIDENCE TO date regarding links between the brain and music. Musical expertise, often linked to early and intensive learning, is associated with neuroanatomical distinctive features that have been demonstrated through modern neuroimaging techniques, especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These distinctive features are present in several brain regions, all more or less involved either in gestural motor skill (therefore probably related to the use of an instrument) or auditory perception. There also is growing evidence that learning music has more general effects on brain plasticity. One important notion, related to this topic, is that of a probable "sensitive period," around 7 years of age, beyond which music-induced structural changes and learning effects are less pronounced. These data are discussed in the perspective of using music training for remediation in children with specific language and reading disorders.

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Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1505114112 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 112 (32) ◽

pp. 10062-10067 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

Adam T. Tierney ◽

Jennifer Krizman ◽

Nina Kraus

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Active Control ◽

Phonological Processing ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Language Skills ◽

Music Training ◽

Auditory Responses ◽

School Music ◽

Brain Structure And Function ◽

Auditory Skills

Fundamental changes in brain structure and function during adolescence are well-characterized, but the extent to which experience modulates adolescent neurodevelopment is not. Musical experience provides an ideal case for examining this question because the influence of music training begun early in life is well-known. We investigated the effects of in-school music training, previously shown to enhance auditory skills, versus another in-school training program that did not focus on development of auditory skills (active control). We tested adolescents on neural responses to sound and language skills before they entered high school (pretraining) and again 3 y later. Here, we show that in-school music training begun in high school prolongs the stability of subcortical sound processing and accelerates maturation of cortical auditory responses. Although phonological processing improved in both the music training and active control groups, the enhancement was greater in adolescents who underwent music training. Thus, music training initiated as late as adolescence can enhance neural processing of sound and confer benefits for language skills. These results establish the potential for experience-driven brain plasticity during adolescence and demonstrate that in-school programs can engender these changes.

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Musical Expertise and Brain Structure: The Causes and Consequences of Training

The Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198804123.013.17 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 417-438

Author(s):

Virginia B. Penhune

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Brain Structure ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Music Performance ◽

Imaging Studies ◽

Music Training ◽

Motor Network ◽

Reward Value ◽

The Brain

Brain imaging studies have demonstrated that music training can change brain structure, predominantly in the auditor-motor network that underlies music performance. The chapter argues that the observed differences in brain structure between experts and novices, and the changes that occur with training derive from at least four sources: first, pre-existing individual differences that promote certain skills; second, lengthy and consistent training which likely produces structural changes in the brain networks tapped by performance; third, practice during specific periods of development which may result in changes that do not occur at other periods of time; fourth, the rewarding nature of music itself, as well as the reward value of practice which may make music training a particularly effective driver of brain plasticity.

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Refining Evidence-Based Treatments for Late-Life Depression

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000127 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 67-76

Author(s):

Grace C. Niu ◽

Patricia A. Arean

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Late Life ◽

Aging Population ◽

The United States ◽

Future Research ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Late Life Depression ◽

Evidence Based Treatments

The recent increase in the aging population, specifically in the United States, has raised concerns regarding treatment for mental illness among older adults. Late-life depression (LLD) is a complex condition that has become widespread among the aging population. Despite the availability of behavioral interventions and psychotherapies, few depressed older adults actually receive treatment. In this paper we review the research on refining treatments for LLD. We first identify evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for LLD and the problems associated with efficacy and dissemination, then review approaches to conceptualizing mental illness, specifically concepts related to brain plasticity and the Research Domain Criteria (RDoc). Finally, we introduce ENGAGE as a streamlined treatment for LLD and discuss implications for future research.

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Adaptive and Maladaptive Neural Plasticity Due to Facial Nerve Palsy

Zeitschrift für Psychologie ◽

10.1027/2151-2604/a000244 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 224 (2) ◽

pp. 102-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carsten M. Klingner ◽

Stefan Brodoehl ◽

Gerd F. Volk ◽

Orlando Guntinas-Lichius ◽

Otto W. Witte

Keyword(s):

Facial Nerve ◽

Neural Plasticity ◽

Cortical Plasticity ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Motor Nerve ◽

Predictive Coding ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Cortical Reorganization ◽

Nerve Lesion ◽

Peripheral Facial Palsy

Abstract. This paper reviews adaptive and maladaptive mechanisms of cortical plasticity in patients suffering from peripheral facial palsy. As the peripheral facial nerve is a pure motor nerve, a facial nerve lesion is causing an exclusive deefferentation without deafferentation. We focus on the question of how the investigation of pure deefferentation adds to our current understanding of brain plasticity which derives from studies on learning and studies on brain lesions. The importance of efference and afference as drivers for cortical plasticity is discussed in addition to the crossmodal influence of different competitive sensory inputs. We make the attempt to integrate the experimental findings of the effects of pure deefferentation within the theoretical framework of cortical responses and predictive coding. We show that the available experimental data can be explained within this theoretical framework which also clarifies the necessity for maladaptive plasticity. Finally, we propose rehabilitation approaches for directing cortical reorganization in the appropriate direction and highlight some challenging questions that are yet unexplored in the field.

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