Abstract
The idea that extensive musical training can influence processing
in cognitive domains other than music has received considerable attention
from the educational system and the media. Here we analyzed behavioral
data and recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) from 8-year-old
children to test the hypothesis that musical training facilitates
pitch processing not only in music but also in language. We used
a parametric manipulation of pitch so that the final notes or words
of musical phrases or sentences were congruous, weakly incongruous,
or strongly incongruous. Musician children outperformed nonmusician
children in the detection of the weak incongruity in both music and
language. Moreover, the greatest differences in the ERPs of musician
and nonmusician children were also found for the weak incongruity:
whereas for musician children, early negative components developed
in music and late positive components in language, no such components
were found for nonmusician children. Finally, comparison of these
results with previous ones from adults suggests that some aspects
of pitch processing are in effect earlier in music than in language.
Thus, the present results reveal positive transfer effects between
cognitive domains and shed light on the time course and neural basis
of the development of prosodic and melodic processing.
- (psychology),transfer
- (psychology):
- acoustic
- discrimination,pitch
- discrimination:
- factors,transfer
- laterality,functional
- laterality:
- mapping,child,electroencephalography,electroencephalography:
- methods,analysis
- methods,evoked
- of
- physiology,acquisition,music,musicality,neuro,pitch
- physiology,female,functional
- physiology,humans,language,male,music,pitch
- physiology,reaction
- physiology,time
- potentials,evoked
- potentials:
- stimulation,acoustic
- stimulation:
- time,reaction
- time:
- variance,brain
Users
Please
log in to take part in the discussion (add own reviews or comments).