Musicians Have Brains With Stronger Connections Than Non-artists

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The brains of artists have more powerful structural and practical connections compared to those of non-musicians, no matter inherent pitch capability, according to brand-new research study from JNeurosci.

Years of musical training shape the brain in significant methods. A minority of artists — with Mozart and Michael Jackson in their ranks — likewise have outright pitch, the capability to recognize a tone without a recommendation. But, it stays uncertain how this capability affects the brain.

Musicians Have More Connected Brains

Subnetworks with increased connection in outright pitch (AP) artists compared to non-musicians. Credit: Leipold et al., JNeurosci 2021

In the most significant sample to date, Leipold et al. compared the brains of expert artists, some with outright pitch and some without, to non-musicians. To the group’s surprise, there were no strong distinctions in between the brains of artists with and without outright pitch capability; rather outright pitch might form the brain in more subtle methods.

Compared to non-musicians, both kinds of artists had more powerful practical connection — the integrated activity of brain areas — in the acoustic areas of both brain hemispheres. Musicians likewise had more powerful white matter connections in between acoustic areas and lobes associated with different kinds of top-level processing. Musicians that started their training at a more youthful age had more powerful structural connections than artists with a later start.

These results show how experience forms the brain, particularly early in life, and how improved musical abilities are represented in our brain.

Reference: “Musical Expertise Shapes Functional and Structural Brains Networks Independent of Absolute Pitch Ability” 25 January 2021, Journal of Neuroscience.
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1985-20.2020