ERIC Number: EJ1388954
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Sep
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-755X
EISSN: EISSN-1467-7687
Available Date: N/A
Neurobiological Predispositions for Musicality: White Matter in Infancy Predicts School-Age Music Aptitude
Zuk, Jennifer; Vanderauwera, Jolijn; Turesky, Ted; Yu, Xi; Gaab, Nadine
Developmental Science, v26 n5 e13365 Sep 2023
Musical training has long been viewed as a model for experience-dependent brain plasticity. Reports of musical training-induced brain plasticity are largely based on cross-sectional studies comparing musicians to non-musicians, which cannot address whether musical training itself is sufficient to induce these neurobiological changes or whether pre-existing neuroarchitecture before training predisposes children to succeed in music. Here, in a longitudinal investigation of children from infancy to school age (n = 25), we find brain structure in infancy that predicts subsequent music aptitude skills at school-age. Building on prior evidence implicating white matter organization of the corticospinal tract as a neural predisposition for musical training in adults, here we find that structural organization of the right corticospinal tract "in infancy" is associated with school-age tonal and rhythmic musical aptitude skills. Moreover, within the corpus callosum, an inter-hemispheric white matter pathway traditionally linked with musical training, we find that structural organization of this pathway in infancy is associated with subsequent tonal music aptitude. Our findings suggest predispositions prior to the onset of musical training from as early as infancy may serve as a scaffold upon which ongoing musical experience can build.
Descriptors: Young Children, Music, Infants, Brain, Music Education, Predictor Variables, Aptitude, Neurological Organization, Biology, Brain Hemisphere Functions
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (DHHS/NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01HD065762
Author Affiliations: N/A