Detection of clash of keys in a non-dichotomous task: Effects of musical genres, instruments and participants’ expertise

Humans naturally perceive and move to a musical beat, entraining body movements to auditory rhythms through clapping, tapping, and dancing. Yet the accuracy of this seemingly effortless behavior varies widely across individuals. Beat perception and production abilities can be improved by experience, such as music and dance training, and impaired by progressive neurological changes, such as in Parkinson's disease. In this study, we assessed the effects of music and dance experience on beat processing in young and older adults, as well as individuals with early-stage Parkinson's disease. We used the Beat Alignment Test (BAT) to assess beat perception and production in a convenience sample of 458 participants (278 healthy young adults, 139 healthy older adults, and 41 people with early-stage Parkinson's disease), with varying levels of music and dance training. In general, we found that participants with over three years of music training had more accurate beat perception than those with less training (p < .001). Interestingly, Parkinson's disease patients with music training had beat production abilities comparable to healthy adults while Parkinson's disease patients with minimal to no music training performed significantly worse. No effects were found in healthy adults for dance training, and too few Parkinson's disease patients had dance training to reliably assess its effects. The finding that musically trained Parkinson's disease patients performed similarly to healthy adults during a beat production task, while untrained patients did not, suggests music training may preserve certain rhythmic motor timing abilities in early-stage Parkinson's disease.

Humans naturally perceive and move to a musical beat, entraining body movements to auditory rhythms through clapping, tapping, and dancing. Yet the accuracy of this seemingly effortless behavior varies widely across individuals. Beat perception and production abilities can be improved by experience, such as music and dance training, and impaired by progressive neurological changes, such as in Parkinson’s disease. In this study, we assessed the effects of music and dance experience on beat processing in young and older adults, as well as individuals with early-stage Parkinson’s disease. We used the Beat Alignment Test (BAT) to assess beat perception and production in a convenience sample of 458 participants (278 healthy young adults, 139 healthy older adults, and 41 people with early-stage Parkinson’s disease), with varying levels of music and dance training. In general, we found that participants with over three years of music training had more accurate beat perception than those with less training (p < .001). Interestingly, Parkinson’s disease patients with music training had beat production abilities comparable to healthy adults while Parkinson’s disease patients with minimal to no music training performed significantly worse. No effects were found in healthy adults for dance training, and too few Parkinson’s disease patients had dance training to reliably assess its effects. The finding that musically trained Parkinson’s disease patients performed similarly to healthy adults during a beat production task, while untrained patients did not, suggests music training may preserve certain rhythmic motor timing abilities in early-stage Parkinson’s disease.

Previous studies have shown that engaging in musical activities throughout the lifespan may buffer age-related decline in auditory and motor function, as well as in general cognitive function. MRI studies have demonstrated that individuals with musical training and experience exhibited greater grey matter volume and functional connectivity in extensive brain regions, especially in auditory and motor systems, compared to matched controls with no particular musical training or experience. Therefore, musical activity is a potential protective factor for brain health across lifespan. However, how lifespan musical experience shapes functional connectivity in older adults is still unknown. The current analysis investigated whether general musical experience (Goldsmith Music Sophistication Index) is associated with functional connectivity in older adults (age=65.7±4.4, n=69), focusing on seed regions in primary motor areas (bilateral precentral gyrus) and primary auditory regions (bilateral anterior/posterior superior temporal gyrus) and their functional connectivity towards other areas throughout the whole brain. We found that older adults with more musical experience showed greater functional connectivity between anterior superior temporal gyrus and insula (R2=0.10, p=0.01), and between posterior superior temporal gyrus and cerebellum (R2=0.08, p=0.02). However, musical experience and music-related functional connectivity was not significantly correlated with general cognitive functions in our sample. Overall, our findings suggest that older adults with more musical experience might be more efficient in some aspects of auditory processing and auditory-motor skills, but this may not transfer towards domain-general cognitive tests. Our results support the notion that even non-professional engagement in musical experiences may afford benefits to the aging brain.

Adult non-native speech perception is subject to influence from multiple factors, including linguistic and extralinguistic experience such as musical training. The present research examines how linguistic and musical factors influence non-native word identification and lexical tone perception. Groups of native tone language (Thai) and non-tone language listeners (English), each subdivided into musician and non-musician groups, engaged in Cantonese tone word training. Participants learned to identify words minimally distinguished by five Cantonese tones during training, also completing musical aptitude and phonemic tone identification tasks. First, the findings suggest that either musical experience or a tone language background leads to significantly better non-native word learning proficiency, as compared to those with neither musical training nor tone language experience. Moreover, the combination of tone language and musical experience did not provide an additional advantage for Thai musicians above and beyond either experience alone. Musicianship was found to be more advantageous than a tone language background for tone identification. Finally, tone identification and musical aptitude scores were significantly correlated with word learning success for English but not Thai listeners. These findings point to a dynamic influence of musical and linguistic experience, both at the tone dentification level and at the word learning stage.

There is growing evidence of the potential effects of musical training on the human brain, as well as increasing interest in the potential contribution of musical experience to healthy ageing. Conducting research on these topics with older adults requires a comprehensive assessment of musical experience across the lifespan, as well as an understanding of which variables might correlate with musical training and experience (such as personality traits or years of education). The present study introduces a short questionnaire for assessing lifetime musical training and experience in older populations: the Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire (ELMEQ). 420 participants from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed the ELMEQ at a mean age of 82 years. We used their responses to the ELMEQ to address three objectives: 1) to report the prevalence of lifetime musical experience in a sample of older adults; 2) to demonstrate how certain item-level responses can be used to model latent variables quantifying experience in different musical domains (playing a musical instrument, singing, self-reported musical ability, and music listening); and 3) to examine non-musical (lifespan) correlates of these domains. In this cohort, 420 of 431 participants (97%) completed the questionnaire. 40% of participants reported some lifetime experience of playing a musical instrument, starting at a median age of 10 years and playing for a median of 5 years. 38% of participants reported some lifetime experience of singing in a group. Non-musical variables of childhood environment, years of education, childhood cognitive ability, female sex, extraversion, history of arthritis and fewer constraints on activities of daily living were found to be associated, variously, with the domains of playing a musical instrument, singing, self-reported musical ability, and music listening. The ELMEQ was found to be an effective research tool with older adults and is made freely available for future research.

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Purpose: The ability of music perception should be improved for the hearing impaired by music training. The music training should be systematically conducted from each musical element to overall music listening based on analytic and synthetic approaches. This study aimed to develop the music rehabilitation program (MRP) to improve the music perception of the hearing-impaired.Methods: Fifteen cochlear implant (CI) users (34.5 ± 11.6 years) participated. The MRP consisted the musical elements such as pitch, melody, rhythm and timbre, and musical emotional training considering Korean culture. The MRP was conducted twice per week through self-directed home training for 2 months. The assessment of music perception (AMP) was tested before and after performing the MRP.Results: The results of AMP subtests were significantly different between pre- and post-MRP with 61.1% and 83.8% for the pitch perception test, 72.8% and 87.8% for the timbre perception test with Korean musical instruments, 48.0% and 59.3% with Western musical instruments, and 55.9% and 71.1% in the harmony perception test. However, there was no significant differences in the melody, rhythm and emotional reaction tests. According to the MRP effectiveness questionnaire, 80% of participants have changed their interests after training for listening to music.Conclusion: Although there were differences among elements of music training, the overall music perception ability was improved after conducting MRP (p &lt; 0.001). In conclusion, providing a systematic music training program such as MRP could expand the range of music experience and improve the ability for music listening and for CI users.

Improvements in digital amplification, cochlear implants, and other innovations have extended the potential for improving hearing function; yet, there remains a need for further hearing improvement in challenging listening situations, such as when trying to understand speech in noise or when listening to music. Here, we review evidence from animal and human models of plasticity in the brain's ability to process speech and other meaningful stimuli. We considered studies targeting populations of younger through older adults, emphasizing studies that have employed randomized controlled designs and have made connections between neural and behavioral changes. Overall results indicate that the brain remains malleable through older adulthood, provided that treatment algorithms have been modified to allow for changes in learning with age. Improvements in speech-in-noise perception and cognition function accompany neural changes in auditory processing. The training-related improvements noted across studies support the need to consider auditory training strategies in the management of individuals who express concerns about hearing in difficult listening situations. Given evidence from studies engaging the brain's reward centers, future research should consider how these centers can be naturally activated during training.

Previous studies have found that musicians typically discriminate Mandarin tones better than non-musicians. However, the relationship between musical experience and tone perception is unclear. In the current study, 39 monolingual native English speakers with no previous experience of tone languages and a range of musical backgrounds (non-musicians and amateur musicians) completed 6 tasks, including lexical tone identification, working memory, test of first language (L1) and second language (L2) segmental perception and the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index which measures musical ability and experience. Results indicated that tone identification was significantly correlated with music training, musical ability, and pitch discrimination. However, a path analysis showed that pitch discrimination and musical ability, but not music training, directly influenced tone identification. Music training had a positive direct influence on pitch discrimination and musical ability, and indirectly influences tone identification via these mediators. Follow-up multivariate multiple regression showed that different tones are affected differently: pitch discrimination ability mainly influenced identification of Tones 3 and 4, while musical ability significantly influenced Tones 1 and 4. Overall, naïve, non-tone language speakers do not need music training or a musical background to be able to identify Mandarin tones with a high degree of accuracy.

Music training facilitates the development of individual cognitive functions and influences brain plasticity. A comprehensive understanding of the pathways and processes through which music affects the human brain, as well as the neurobiological mechanisms underlying human brain perception of music, is necessary to fully harness the plasticity that music offers for brain development. To investigate the resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) activity of individuals with and without music training experience, and explore the microstate patterns of EEG signals. In this study, an analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates from 57 participants yielded temporal parameters(mean duration, time coverage, occurrence, and transition probability)of four classic microstate categories (Categories A, B, C, and D) for two groups: those with music training experience and those without. Statistical analysis was conducted on these parameters between groups. The results indicate that compared to individuals without music training experience, participants with music training experience exhibit significantly longer mean durations of microstate A, which is associated with speech processing. Additionally, they show a greater time coverage of microstate B, which is associated with visual processing. Transition probabilities from microstate A to microstate B were greater in participants with music training experience compared to those without. Conversely, transition probabilities from microstate A to microstate C and from microstate C to microstate D were greater in participants without music training experience. Our study found differences in characteristic parameters of certain microstates between individuals with and without music training experience. This suggests distinct brain activity patterns during tasks related to speech, vision, and attention regulation among individuals with varying levels of music training experience. These findings support an association between music training experience and specific neural activities. Furthermore, they endorse the hypothesis of music training experience influencing brain activity during resting states. Additionally, they imply a facilitative role of music training in tasks related to speech, vision, and attention regulation, providing initial evidence for further empirical investigation into the cognitive processes influenced by music training.

EDITORIAL article Front. Psychol., 14 June 2016Sec. Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Volume 7 - 2016 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00876

This study investigated the effect of a 6-month one-to-one musical ear-training program on the perception of music, speech, and emotional prosody of deaf patients receiving a cochlear implant (CI). Eighteen patients who recently underwent cochlear implantation were assigned to either a musical ear-training group or a control group. The participants in the music group significantly improved in their overall music perception compared with the control group. In particular, their discrimination of timbre, melodic contour, and rhythm improved. Both groups significantly improved in their speech perception; thus, this effect cannot be specifically ascribed to music training. In contrast to the control group, the music group showed an earlier onset of progress in recognition of emotional prosody, whereas end-point performances were comparable. All participants completed the program and showed great enthusiasm for the musical ear training, particularly singing-related activities. If implemented as part of aural/oral rehabilitation therapy, the proposed musical ear-training program could form a valuable complementary method of auditory rehabilitation, and, in the long term, contribute to an improved general quality of life in CI users.Keywords: cochlear implants, music perception, music enjoyment, music training, music testingSupplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0031140.suppA cochlear implant (CI) is a neural prosthesis that helps deaf people to hear. The implant operates by an external signal processor, which breaks up sound into different frequencies, converts these into electrical signals, and transmits them to an internal receiver through a radio-frequency link. The receiver passes the stimuli onto an implanted electrode array, which stimulates remaining auditory nerve fibers in the cochlea (Loizou, 1999). The auditory nerve is hereby activated, allowing sound signals to reach the brain's auditory system. The clinical impact of the evolution of CIs has been nothing less than extraordinary. With current implant technology and up-to-date sound-processing strategies, the average CI listener recognizes 80% of sentences and approximately 55% of monosyllabic words, in quiet listening conditions, after 12 months of practice with a unilateral CI; some users even achieve the capability of talking on the phone (Friesen, Shannon, Baskent, & Wang, 2001; Wilson & Dorman, 2007). The variability in implant outcome, however, is large, with duration of hearing loss (HL) and residual hearing as important predictors of the result (Cosetti & Waltzman, 2012; Lee et al., 2007; Summerfield & Marshall, 1995; Waltzman, Fisher, Niparko, & Cohen, 1995). With the considerable improvements made in CI technology with regard to speech perception, it is natural that many existing CI users express hopes of being able to enjoy music. Moreover, because music has played an essential role in many of these patients' cultural and social life before deafness, CI candidates' hope of retrieving music enjoyment is an important reason for choosing this treatment (Gfeller et al., 2000).For the majority of CI users, however, the music experience is disappointing. Surveys have shown that a majority of adult CI recipients' self-reported levels of music listening and enjoyment are significantly lower after than before implantation (Gfeller et al., 2000; Lassaletta et al., 2007; Looi & She, 2010; Mirza, Douglas, Lindsey, Hildreth, & Hawthorne, 2003). This reduced music appreciation is due to a general difficulty with perceiving complex acoustic stimuli, which also includes speech perception in conditions involving background noise or competing talkers. Be- cause of the limited number of available electrodes and the mis- match between the pulse-rate of the electrical impulses and the sound input frequency coupled with the dominance of temporal processing for low-frequency sound, the CI signal is unable to adequately code the spectrum of sound needed to perceive musical pitch and timbre. …

Standard-interval size affects interval-discrimination thresholds for pure-tone melodic pitch intervals

Voice Quality and Auditory Processing in Subjects with and Without Musical Experience

The goal of this project was to investigate the impact of musical experience, hearing loss, and age on music perception in older adults. The authors hypothesized that older adults with a varying degree of musical experience would perform better at music perception tasks than their counterparts without musical experience while controlling for age and hearing loss. This study used a descriptive correlational cross-sectional design. Seventy-seven older adults aged 60 to 90 years were recruited and divided into two groups based on their lifetime musical experience: the group without musical experience (n = 39) and the M group (with musical experience; n = 38). Participants in the M group had either played an instrument for 5 years or more and/or taken at least 1 year of music lessons. Following a hearing screening and a musical experience questionnaire, participants completed two music perception tasks: (1) a short version of the Montreal Battery Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA) measuring melodic (scale and contour) and rhythm perception, and (2) an instrument discrimination task measuring timbre perception. Results revealed that participants of the M group had a significantly higher accuracy in both tasks compared with the group without musical experience while controlling for age and hearing loss. Moreover, a significant interaction was found between group effect and hearing loss for the MBEA, suggesting that musical experience moderates the impact of hearing loss on melodic and rhythm perception abilities. Finally, the amount of musical experience was the most important positive predictor for MBEA accuracy in the M group. These results suggest that despite age-related hearing loss, older adults with musical experience still benefit from their experience-driven enhancement in melodic, rhythm, and timbre perception. Findings from this study support the notion that music training is beneficial for music perception abilities, providing protection against the impact of presbycusis.