INFLUENCE OF MUSICAL TRAINING ON PITCH PROCESSING: EVENTRELATED BRAIN POTENTIALS STUDIES OF CHILDREN MORENO Sylvain Équipe Langage et Musique, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives de la Méditerranée- INCM, UMR 6193, CNRS - Université la Méditerranée (Marseille), France [email protected] BESSON Mireille Équipe Langage et Musique, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives de la Méditerranée- INCM, UMR 6193, CNRS - Université la Méditerranée (Marseille), France

Résumé :

The aim of this experiment is to determine whether eight weeks of musical training based on pitch processing can help 8-year old children to detect pitch changes in language. Results show that a relatively short exposure to pitch processing in music exerts some influence on pitch processing in language. Therefore, these results are in line with the hypothesis that common processes may underlie pitch processing in language and in music.

Mots-clés : brain plasticity, language, music, children, ERPs

1.

Introduction

The influence of extended musical practice on the level of performance in domains that are not directly linked to music has been described in both adults and children (Anvari et al, 2002; Costa-Giomi, 2004; Schellenberg, 2004). However, these results should be considered with caution insofar as other experiments have failed to demonstrate beneficial effects of music training in non musical domains (Hassler et al., 1987). Also, as pointed out by Schellenberg (2001) most studies are problematic because of uncontrolled differences between the music and control groups, such as differences in mood, arousal and motivation (Standley and Hughes, 1997), number of years of education (Chan et al., 1998), extra-scholar activities, pedagogy and personal contact with the instructor. Finally, as noted by Thompson et al. (2004), while most studies were successful in showing positive correlations between music and other cognitive domains, very few studies have aimed at testing specific hypotheses regarding the causal links underlying these effects. In a recent series of experiments with both adults (Schön et al, 2004) and 8-year old children (Magne et al, in press), they have tested the hypothesis that common processes underlie pitch perception in music and in language. Consequently, musicians (adult and children) should perceive pitch deviations better than non-musicians not only in music, but also in language. While, detailed analysis of the ERPs revealed some differences between adults and children, and between music and language (see Magne et al, in press), results were overall in line with this hypothesis. The specific aim of the present experiment was to determine whether changes in the pattern of brain electrical activity can be found after only 8 weeks of musical training. We hypothesized that while no differences between groups should be found before training, after training children with music training should be able to detect pitch violations in language better than children with painting training. If we were able to demonstrate that significant changes are found in the pattern of brain electrical activity after only 8 weeks of musical training, such 1

results would support the importance of musical training for performance in other cognitive domains.

2.

Participants

We tested 20 non-musician 8 year-old children (i.e., without any specific musical training) from the same elementary school, with the same age, same number of years of education, similar school level and socio-economic backgrounds (Laroque, 1968), and who were all involved in extra-scholar activities other than music. All children performed the same task (see below). Then, one group of 10 children followed 8 weeks of music training and the other group of 10 children, 8 weeks of painting training. Finally, children were tested again using the same task.

3.

Material and Procedure

Children were presented with short sentences from children’s books, and the F0 of the sentence’s final word was manipulated to create a weak (35% increase) or a strong (120% increase) pitch violation. They were asked to determine if the pitch of the final words was congruous or incongruous. EEG was recorded from 28 scalp electrodes, and EEG acquisition was synchronized with final word onset.

4.

Results and Discussion

The main results of the present experiment can be summarized as follows. While main effects of pitch violation and training were found on both Reaction Times (RTs) and error rate measures, these effects were not significantly different between the music and painting training groups. By contrast, analysis of the ERPs revealed that significant differences between the music and the painting groups. Clearly, while the strong incongruities elicited very similar effects in both groups before training, a decrease in the amplitude of a late positivity was only found in the music group. The difference was largest over parietal regions. One possible interpretation is that because children in the music group were specifically trained on pitch, pitch processing became more automatic. The decreased amplitude of the late positivity would consequently reflect the automation of underlying processes that thereby require fewer and fewer neurons (see, Jancke 2000, for a similar interpretation). In conclusion, the present results show some evidence for an influence of music training on pitch processing in language after only 8 weeks of musical training. It will be interesting in further experiments to train children over longer periods to further track these transfer effects.

Références bibliographiques ANVARI, S.H., TRAINOR, L.J., WOODSIDE, J. & LEVY B.A. (2002). Relations among musical skills, phonological processing, and early reading ability in preschool children. Journal Experimental Child Psychology, 83, 111-130. CHAN A.S, HO Y.C, & CHEUNG, M.C. (1998). Music training improves verbal memory. Nature, 396, 128. COSTA-GIOMI, E. (2004). Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychology of music, 32, 139-152. HASSLER, M., BIRBAUMER, N. & FEIL, A. (1987). Musical talent and visual-spatial ability: onset of puberty. Psychology of Music 15: 141–151.

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JANCKE L, SHAH NJ, PETERS M. (2000) Cortical activations in primary and secondary motor areas for complex bimanual movements in professional pianists. Brain research. Cognitive Brain Research.10, 1-2, 177-183. LAROQUE, P. (1968).Les classes sociales. Paris, Presses Universitaires de France. MAGNE, C., SCHON, D., BESSON, M. (in press). Musician children detect pitch violations in both music and language better than non-musician children: Behavioral and electrophysiological approaches. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. SCHELLENBERG, E.G. (2001). Music and nonmusical abilities. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 355-371. SCHELLENBERG, E.G. (2004). Music lessons enhance IQ. Psychological Science, 15, 511-514. SCHON, D., MAGNE, C., BESSON, M. (2004). The music of speech: music facilitates pitch processing in Language. Psychophysiology, 41, 341-349. STANDLEY, J.M. & HUGHES, J.E. (1997). Evaluation of an early intervention music curriculum for enhancing prereading/writing skills. Music Therapy Perspect. 15: 79–85. THOMPSON, W.F., SCHELLENBERG, E.G. & HUSAIN, G. (2004). Decoding speech prosody: Do music lessons help? Emotion, 4, 46-64.

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