What does bilingual experience do to music processing in the brain?

Abstract

The relationship between language and music in the brain has constantly been a topic of discussion. Understanding how and to what extent music and language experiences influence cortical dynamics for brain functions (e.g., music and speech processing) will open a crucial door to treat a myriad of neurological conditions with an auditory or language base. Bilingual experience affects nonverbal cognition, and the neural coding of pitch is shaped by language experience in the adult population. However, it is not clear whether and how different bilingual development affects music processing differently. The purpose of this study was to determine whether different early bilingual language experience modulates cortical sensitivity to music features. Participants were exposed to varying musical phrases. The electroencephalograms (EEGs)/event-related potentials (ERPs) where recorded during changes in musical features. The ERPs were compared among bilingual English-Mandarin and bilingual English-Spanish pre-adolescents and adolescents. Preliminary results suggested that bilingual teenagers with English-Mandarin backgrounds showed larger mismatch negativity responses to some, but not all six types of music changes than the bilingual teenagers with English-Spanish backgrounds. Bilingual experience modulates music process and different bilingual experiences influence music processing differently.