Abstract
There is evidence that the cerebellum is involved in motor learning
and cognitive function in humans. Animal experiments have found structural
changes in the cerebellum in response to long-term motor skill activity.
We investigated whether professional keyboard players, who learn
specialized motor skills early in life and practice them intensely
throughout life, have larger cerebellar volumes than matched non-musicians
by analyzing high-resolution T(1)-weighted MR images from a large
prospectively acquired database (n = 120). Significantly greater
absolute (P = 0.018) and relative (P = 0.006) cerebellar volume but
not total brain volume was found in male musicians compared to male
non-musicians. Lifelong intensity of practice correlated with relative
cerebellar volume in the male musician group (r = 0.595, P = 0.001).
In the female group, there was no significant difference noted in
volume measurements between musicians and non-musicians. The significant
main effect for gender on relative cerebellar volume (F = 10.41,
P < 0.01), with females having a larger relative cerebellar volume,
may mask the effect of musicianship in the female group. We propose
that the significantly greater cerebellar volume in male musicians
and the positive correlation between relative cerebellar volume and
lifelong intensity of practice represents structural adaptation to
long-term motor and cognitive functional demands in the human cerebellum.
- adult,cerebellum,cerebellum:
- anatomy
- characteristics,music,musicality,neuro
- histology,female,humans,learning,magnetic
- imaging,male,motor
- plasticity,prospective
- resonance
- skills,music,neuronal
- studies,sex
- \&
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