Brain Structures Differ between Musicians and Non-Musicians

From an early age, musicians learn complex motor and auditory skills (e.g., the translation of visually perceived musical symbols into motor commands with simultaneous auditory monitoring of output), which they practice extensively from childhood throughout their entire careers. Using a voxel-by-voxel morphometric technique, we found gray matter volume differences in motor, auditory, and visual-spatial brain regions when comparing professional musicians (keyboard players) with a matched group of amateur musicians and non-musicians. Although some of these multiregional differences could be attributable to innate predisposition, we believe they may represent structural adaptations in response to long-term skill…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: BCS-0132508, 0132508
• DD
  Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• DA
  Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst