Relationships between music training, neural networks, and speech processing
Professional music training has repeatedly been shown to be associated with functional and structural changes in brain regions supporting auditory
perception, motor control, and cognition. Nowadays, there is also some agreement that music and speech processing share, at least in part, a similar neural substrate. Based on this previous evidence, I will present several studies of our lab pointing to close relationships between music training and spectrotemporal aspects of speech processing by focusing on local changes in the auditory-related cortex as well as on neural networks. Finally, I will present recent EEG data indicating that the influence of music training on dynamic neural networks can even facilitate differential aspects of language learning mechanisms.
Stefan Elmer, Auditory Research Group Zurich (ARGZ), Institute of Psychology, Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zurich
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