Enhanced lateralization in expert musicians: an fMRI investigation of visuospatial processing
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1
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
Background: Expert musicians are regarded as an excellent model of neuroplasticity due to their early and intensive musical training. Cross-sectional research consistently identifies behavioural and neural differences between musicians and non-musicians, across a range of cognitive domains and brain regions. Previous behavioural and electrophysiological research has indicated musicians have an enhanced ability to direct visual attention to both sides of space, however to date this has not been explored with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This study sought to identify differences in the lateralization of activation during two visuospatial attention tasks, with musicians expected to have more bilateral, and non-musicians more right-sided activation.
Method: Visuospatial processing and its neural correlates were assessed in 14 adult musicians and 13 non-musicians using fMRI. Two tests of visuospatial processing were employed: the Landmark task (a variant of a line bisection task) and a visual search task. Laterality index (LI) scores were calculated to assess lateralization in parietal and occipital ROIs.
Results: Preliminary behavioural data suggests that musicians were more accurate in the two tasks. The LI scores indicate that, contrary to predictions, musicians appeared to be more strongly right-lateralised than non-musicians on the Landmark task. On the Visual Search task, LI scores in both groups indicated bilateral activation with no significant group difference.
Discussion: Musicians were more accurate than non-musicians with comparable reaction times. This is in line with previous research indicating enhanced visuospatial processing in musically trained individuals. Against predictions, musicians were more right-lateralised on the Landmark task. This suggests that previous behavioural research finding more symmetric visual attention in musicians is a result of enhanced processing in right-hemispheric visuospatial regions.
Keywords:
visuospatial processing,
visuospatial attention,
musicians,
fMRI,
plasticity
Conference:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference, Clayton, Melbourne, Australia, 28 Nov - 1 Dec, 2013.
Presentation Type:
Poster
Topic:
Sensation and Perception
Citation:
Ewens
L,
Tippett
LJ and
Addis
DR
(2013). Enhanced lateralization in expert musicians: an fMRI investigation of visuospatial processing.
Conference Abstract:
ACNS-2013 Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society Conference.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2013.212.00140
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Received:
17 Sep 2013;
Published Online:
25 Nov 2013.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Laura Ewens, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, lauraewens@gmail.com