The effect of musical training on attention skills: behavioural and electrophysiological evidence

Background: Understanding adaptive mechanisms underlying the development of musical competence may inform specific training programs aiming at performance enhancement as well as neurorehabilitation [1]. Nonetheless, such learning mechanisms are still understudied and have been mostly investigated via behavioural and neuroimaging techniques. The present study then aims at testing differences in cognitive functioning between people trained and not-trained in music. Namely, we will focus on both electrophysiological and behavioural markers of monitoring and attention control. Materials and Methods: Eighteen participants were presented with an omitted tone task, which taps on endogenous orientation of attention skills. In addition to performance data (accuracy and response times), EEG responses to both actual and omitted tones have been processed to compute their spatial components (independent component analysis- ICA) and time/frequency dynamics (power spectra, event-related spectral perturbation [2] and inter-trial coherence [3]). Results: As for behavioural performance, we found that musicians were more accurate to predict the onset of omitted tones, confirming that their auditory-motor skills were more efficient. As for electrophysiological data, the analysis of time/frequency oscillatory responses highlighted four primary clusters of electrophysiological activity and showed that expertise in music is respectively associated to a greater theta, alpha and beta reactivity, which may reflect an adaptive response of brain oscillatory activities. Conclusion: Present findings provide further evidence that EEG is a valuable tool to help our understanding of adaptive mechanisms fostered by musical training and hint at the potential of musical training in modulating and strengthening cognitive and attention skills. References: 1. Schlaug G. Musicians and music making as a model for the study of brain plasticity. Prog Brain Res. 2015;217:37–55. 2. Pfurtscheller G, Lopes da Silva FH. Event-related EEG/MEG synchronization and desynchronization: basic principles. Clin Neurophysiol. 1999;110:1842–57. 3. Makeig S. Auditory event-related dynamics of the EEG spectrum and effects of exposure to tones. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1993;86:283–93.