Structural and functional brain plasticity for acquisition of drumming expertis
Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has greatly extended the study of neuroplasticity in the human brain. Imaging studies conducted over recent years uncovered structural changes that occur in both grey and white matter, with most of these studies focusing on changes that occur after learning new skills. Learning, including learning to play a musical instrument, has been shown to trigger functional and structural brain plasticity. Neurological research into the effects of music have of late grown considerably and provided valuable insight into neural mechanisms that govern perception, as well as motor production of music in the healthy brain. The main goal of this project was to quantify functional and structural changes in response to learning a new musical motor task, in this case drumming. For this, we investigated the effects of drum playing on structural and functional plasticity over a six-months drumming learning course.
15 healthy volunteer non-drummers received a 45-minute drumming training session each week over 21 weeks, delivered by the professional drumming tutor. High resolution T1- weighted structural and task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements were acquired at the baseline (pre), mid and post-learning stages of the course. In addition, a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scan was also performed multiple times throughout the training course to assess various measures of water diffusion within brain tissue.
Following training, the superior and middle temporal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus, showed an increase in BOLD response signal and grey matter volume. Diffusivity values also decreased in these regions. These changes may reflect increased synaptogenesis and dendritic growth, generation of new axon collaterals, and neuron formation, which would support enhanced functional demands needed to facilitate musical training, indicating that the adult brain can be modified via learning. Clinical focus on the neural basis of music processing in the abnormally developed or degenerating brain, or in neurological illness such as, might enable exploration of the effects of music-based interventions in neurological rehabilitation.