Brain Shaped by Music Performance: Cognitive Effects and Genetic Approaches

Year 2018, Volume: 71 Issue: 3, 106 - 111, 31.12.2018

Emel Güneş , Şayeste Çağıl İnal

Abstract

Music is a complex product of the brain, which contains various components such as pitch, rhythm, timbre, and due to this, it has always been an attractive subject for neuroscientists. With the increasing developments in imaging techniques, a variety of anatomical structures and functions associated with music has been found. Specifically, studies done with musicians revealed the changing brain areas with music performance as well as the affected cognitive functions due to near and far transfer. Cognitive functions such as verbal memory, motor functions, visual and spatial functions, executive functions are some of the cognitive components which are improved with music performance. Studies done with children who take musical training and musicians who started their training at an early age points to the fact that music performance results with brain plasticity and due to this fact, musician brain is appropriate to use as a plasticity model. Despite all these information, studies on molecular background of music has started quite recently and became a new research topic. Studies like twin studies, familial aggregation studies, genome wide association studies points out that musical abilities and behaviors could be based on genetics, along with suggesting several candidate genes. It is mostly known that these genes play important roles in brain, such as neural connections and conduction of neurotransmitters. All these results are fairly new and require in depth research.

Keywords

Music , Brain plasticity , Cognitive functions , Genetic

Ethical Statement

-

Supporting Institution

-

Project Number

-

Thanks

-

Müzik İcrasıyla Şekillenen Beyin: Bilişsel Etkiler ve Genetik Yaklaşımlar

Abstract

Müzik; temelinde tizlik, ritim, tını gibi çeşitli parçaları içeren, beynin kompleks bir ürünüdür ve bu yönüyle sinirbilimciler için ilgi çekici bir konu olmuştur. Son yıllarda görüntüleme tekniklerindeki gelişmelerin hızlanması ile birlikte müzikle ilişkili anatomik yapılar ve fonksiyonlar hakkında çok çeşitli bilgiler elde edilmiştir. Özellikle müzisyenler ile yapılan çalışmalar, müzik icrası etkisinde değişen beyin yapılarını açığa çıkartmış, kısa ve uzun transfer etkisiyle etkilenen bilişsel işlevlere işaret etmiştir. Sözel bellek, motor fonksiyonlar, görsel ve uzaysal fonksiyonlar, yürütücü işlevler gibi bilişsel fonksiyonlar, müzik etkisi ile gelişen işlevlerden bazılarıdır. Müzik eğitimi alan çocuklarla ve erken yaştan itibaren müzik eğitimi alan müzisyenlerle yapılan çeşitli araştırmalar, müzik icrasının beyinde plastisiteye neden olduğuna işaret ettiğinden, müzisyen beyni bir beyin plastisitesi modeli olarak kullanılmaya elverişlidir. Bütün bu bilgilere rağmen, müziğin moleküler arka planı son dönemde çalışılmaya başlanmış, oldukça yeni bir araştırma konusudur. Yapılan ikiz, ailesel agregasyon, genom boyu asosiyasyon gibi çalışmalar, müzikal becerilerin ve davranışların genetik temelli olabileceğine işaret ederken, bunun yanı sıra ilgili çeşitli aday genleri önermektedir. Bu aday genlerin beyinde nöral bağlantıların oluşumu ve nörotransmitterlerin iletimi gibi beyin plastisitesinde önemli rol oynayan genler olduğu bilinmektedir. Elde edilen bu sonuçlar henüz fazlasıyla yenidir ve daha derinlikli araştırılması gerekmektedir.

Keywords

Kelimeler: Müzik , Beyin Plastisitesi , Bilişsel İşlevler , Genetik

Ethical Statement

Hakem Değerlendirmesi: Editörler kurulu dışında olan kişiler tarafından değerlendirilmiştir. Yazarlık Katkıları Konsept: E.G., Dizayn: Ş.Ç.İ., E.G., Literatür Arama: Ş.Ç.İ., E.G., Yazan: Ş.Ç.İ Çıkar Çatışması: Yazarlar tarafından çıkar çatışması bildirilmemiştir. Finansal Destek: Yazarlar tarafından finansal destek almadıkları bildirilmiştir.

Supporting Institution

-

Project Number

-

Thanks

-

References

• 1. Kanduri C, Kuusi T, Ahvenainen M ve ark. The effect of music performance on the transcriptome of professional musicians. Sci Rep. 2015;5:9506.
• 2. Kanduri C, Raijas P, Ahvenainen M ve ark. The effect of listening to music on human transcriptome. PeerJ 2015;3: e830.
• 3. Wan CY ve Schlaug G. Musicians and music making as a model for the study of brain plasticity. Prog Brain Res. 2015;217:37-55.
• 4. Macnamara BN, Hambrick DZ, Oswald FL. Deliberate practice and performance in music, games, sports, education, and professions: a metaanalysis. Psychol Sci. 2014;8: 1608-18.
• 5. Platz F, Kopiez R, Lehmann AC ve ark. The influence of deliberate practice on musical achievement: a meta-analysis. Front Psychol. 2014;5:646.
• 6. Ullén F, Hambrick DZ, Mosing MA. Rethinking expertise: A multifactorial gene-environment interaction model of expert performance. Psychol Bull. 2016;4:427-46.
• 7. Schlaug G, Jäncke L, Huang Y ve ark. Increased corpus callosum size in musicians. Neuropsychologia. 1995;8:1047-55.
• 8. Oztürk AH, Tasçioglu B, Aktekin M ve ark. Morphometric comparison of the human corpus callosum in professional musicians and non-musicians by using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. J Neuroradiol. 2002;1:29-34.
• 9. Hyde KL, Lerch J, Norton A, ve ark. Musical training shapes structural brain development. J Neurosci. 2009;29(10):3019-25.
• 10. Aboitiz F, Scheibel AB, Fisher RS ve ark. Fiber composition of the human corpus callosum. Brain Res. 1992;598(1-2):143-53.
• 11. Amunts K, Schlaug G, Jäncke L ve ark. Motor cortex and hand motor skills: structural compliance in the human brain. Hum Brain Mapp. 1997;5(3):206- 15.
• 12. Schlaug G. The brain of musicians. A model for functional and structural adaptation. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001;930:281-99.
• 13. Elbert T, Pantev C, Wienbruch C ve ark. Increased cortical representation of the fingers of the left hand in string players. Science. 1995;270(5234):305-7.
• 14. Bangert M, Schlaug G. Specialization of the specialized in features of external human brain morphology. Eur J Neurosci. 2006;24(6):1832-4.
• 15. Pantev C, Engelien A, Candia V ve ark. Representational cortex in musicians. Plastic alterations in response to musical practice. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001;930:300-14.
• 16. Jäncke L, Schlaug G, Huang Y ve ark. Asymmetry of the planum parietale. Neuroreport. 1994;5(9):1161-3.
• 17. Keenan JP, Thangaraj V, Halpern AR ve ark. Absolute pitch and planum temporale. Neuroimage. 2001;14(6):1402-8.
• 18. Loui P, Li HC, Hohmann A ve ark. Enhanced cortical connectivity in absolute pitch musicians: a model for local hyperconnectivity. J Cogn Neurosci. 2010;23(4):1015-26.
• 19. Schneider P, Scherg M, Dosch HG ve ark. Morphology of Heschl’s gyrus reflects enhanced activation in the auditory cortex of musicians. Nat Neurosci. 2002;5(7):688-94.
• 20. Benner J, Wengenroth M, Reinhardt J ve ark. Prevalence and function of Heschl’s gyrus morphotypes in musicians. Brain Struct Funct. 2017;222(8):3587-3603.
• 21. Meister IG, Krings T, Foltys H ve ark. Playing piano in the mind—an fMRI study on music imagery and performance in pianists. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2004;19(3):219–228.
• 22. Baumann S, Koeneke S, Schmidt CF ve ark. A network for audio-motor coordination in skilled pianists and non-musicians. Brain Res. 2007;1161:65– 78.
• 23. Abdul-Kareem IA, Stancak A, Parkes LM ve ark. Increased gray matter volume of left pars opercularis in male orchestral musicians correlate positively with years of musical performance. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2011;33(1):24-32
• 24. Tillmann B, Janata P, Bharucha JJ. Activation of the inferior frontal cortex in musical priming. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2003;16(2):145-61.
• 25. Hutchinson S, Lee LH, Gaab N ve ark. Cerebellar volume of musicians. Cereb Cortex. 2003;13(9):943-9.
• 26. Oechslin MS, Van De Ville D, Lazeyras F ve ark. Degree of musical expertise modulates higher order brain functioning. Cereb Cortex. 2013;23(9):2213- 24.
• 27. Fauvel B, Groussard M, Chételat G ve ark. Morphological brain plasticity induced by musical expertise is accompanied by modulation of functional connectivity at rest. Neuroimage. 2014;90:179-88.
• 28. Schellenberg EG, Weiss MW. Music and cognitive abilities. San Diego, CA, US: Elsevier Academic Press; 2013. pp. 499-550.
• 29. Flohr JW. Short-Term Music Instruction and Young Children’s Developmental Music Aptitude. Journal of Research in Music Education, 1981;29(3):219– 223.
• 30. Anvari SH, Trainor LJ, Woodside J ve ark. Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. J Exp Child Psychol. 2002;83(2):111-30.
• 31. Schlaug G, Norton A, Overy K ve ark. Effects of music training on the child’s brain and cognitive development. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005;1060:219-30.
• 32. Ho YC, Cheung MC, Chan AS. Music training improves verbal but not visual memory: cross-sectional and longitudinal explorations in children. Neuropsychology. 2003;17(3):439-50.
• 33. D’Souza AA, Moradzadeh L, Wiseheart M1. Musical training, bilingualism, and executive function: working memory and inhibitory control. Cogn Res Princ Implic. 2018;3(1):11.
• 34. Slevc LR, Okada BM. Processing structure in language and music: a case for shared reliance on cognitive control. Psychon Bull Rev. 2015;22(3):637-52.
• 35. Bialystok E, Depape AM. Musical expertise, bilingualism, and executive functioning. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2009;35(2):565-74.
• 36. George EM, Coch D. Music training and working memory: an ERP study. Neuropsychologia. 2011;49(5):1083-1094.
• 37. Zuk J, Benjamin C, Kenyon A. Behavioral and neural correlates of executive functioning in musicians and non-musicians. PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e99868.
• 38. Bergman Nutley S, Darki F ve ark. Music practice is associated with development of working memory during childhood and adolescence. Front Hum Neurosci. 2014;7:926.
• 39. Jaschke AC, Honing H, Scherder EJA. Longitudinal Analysis of Music Education on Executive Functions in Primary School Children. Front Neurosci. 2018;12:103.
• 40. Mosing MA, Madison G, Pedersen NL. Practice does not make perfect: no causal effect of music practice on music ability. Psychol Sci. 2014;25(9):1795-803.
• 41. Oikkonen J, Onkamo P, Järvelä I, Kanduri C. Convergent evidence for the molecular basis of musical traits. Sci Rep. 2016;6:39707.
• 42. Wallin, N. L., Merker, B., & Brown, S. (Eds.). The origins of music. Cambridge, MA, US: The MIT Press. 2000.
• 43. Butkovic A, Ullén F, Mosing, MA. Personality related traits as predictors of music practice: Underlying environmental and genetic influences. Pers Individ Dif, 2015;74, 133-138.
• 44. Gingras B, Honing H, Peretz I ve ark. Defining the biological bases of individual differences in musicality. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2015;370(1664):20140092.
• 45. Oikkonen J, Järvelä I. Genomics approaches to study musical aptitude. Bioessays. 2014;36(11):1102-1108.
• 46. Perani D, Saccuman MC, Scifo P ve ark. Functional specializations for music processing in the human newborn brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2010;107(10):4758-4763.
• 47. Peretz I, Zatorre RJ. Brain organization for music processing. Annu Rev Psychol. 2005;56:89-114.
• 48. Bouchard TJ, McGue MJ. Familial studies of intelligence: A review. Science. 1981;1055-1059.
• 49. Tucker-Drob EM, Briley DA, Harden KP. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Cognition Across Development and Context. Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2013;22(5):349-355.
• 50. Kendler KS, Baker JH. Genetic influences on measures of the environment: a systematic review. Psychol Med. 2007;37(5):615-26.
• 51. Frank MJ, Fossella JA. Neurogenetics and pharmacology of learning, motivation, and cognition. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2011;36(1):133-52.
• 52. Hambrick DZ, Tucker-Drob EM. The genetics of music accomplishment: evidence for gene-environment correlation and interaction. Psychon Bull Rev. 2015;22(1):112-20.
• 53. Mosing MA, Madison G, Pedersen NL ve ark. Investigating cognitive transfer within the framework of music practice: genetic pleiotropy rather than causality. Dev Sci. 2016;19(3):504-12.
• 54. Theusch E, Basu A, Gitschier J. Genome-wide study of families with absolute pitch reveals linkage to 8q24.21 and locus heterogeneity. Am J Hum Genet. 2009;85(1):112-9.
• 55. Gregersen PK, Kowalsky E, Lee A ve ark. Absolute pitch exhibits phenotypic and genetic overlap with synesthesia. Hum Mol Genet. 2013;22(10):2097- 104.
• 56. Ukkola-Vuoti, L, Kanduri, C, Oikkonen, J ve ark. Genome-wide copy number variation analysis in extended families and unrelated individuals characterized for musical aptitude and creativity in music. PLoS one, 2013;8(2):1-9 e0182210.
• 57. Baharloo S, Johnston PA, Service SK. Absolute pitch: an approach for identification of genetic and nongenetic components. Am J Hum Genet. 1998;62(2):224-31.
• 58. Pulli K, Karma K, Norio R ve ark. Genome-wide linkage scan for loci of musical aptitude in Finnish families: evidence for a major locus at 4q22. J Med Genet. 2008;45(7):451-6.
• 59. Oikkonen J, Huang Y, Onkamo P ve ark. A genome-wide linkage and association study of musical aptitude identifies loci containing genes related to inner ear development and neurocognitive functions. Mol Psychiatry. 2015;20(2):275-82.
• 60. Ukkola LT, Onkamo P, Raijas P ve ark. Musical Aptitude Is Associated with AVPR1A-Haplotypes. PLoS ONE 2009;4(5):e5534
• 61. Granot RY., Frankel Y, Gritsenko V ve ark. Provisional evidence that the arginine vasopressin 1a receptor gene is associated with musical memory. Evol. Hum. Behav. 2007;28:313–318.
• 62. Ukkola-Vuoti L, Oikkonen J, Onkamo P ve ark. Association of the arginine vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A) haplotypes with listening to music. J Hum Genet. 2011;56(4):324-9.
• 63. Fink S, Excoffier L, Heckel G. High variability and non-neutral evolution of the mammalian avpr1a gene. BMC Evol Biol. 2007;27(7):176.
• 64. Collingridge GL, Peineau S, Howland JG ve ark. Long-term depression in the CNS. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010;11(7):459-73.
• 65. Oikkonen J, Kuusi T, Peltonen P ve ark. Creative Activities in Music--A Genome-Wide Linkage Analysis. PLoS One. 2016; 24;11(2):e0148679.
• 66. Liu X, Kanduri C, Oikkonen J ve ark. Detecting signatures of positive selection associated with musical aptitude in the human genome. Sci Rep. 2016;16;6:21198.
• 67. Schulz-Schaeffer WJ. The synaptic pathology of alpha-synuclein aggregation in dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease and Parkinson’s disease dementia. Acta Neuropathol. 2010;120(2):131-43.