Author: Cheung MC1, Chan AS2,3, Liu Y4, Law D5, Wong CW5
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR.
<sup>2</sup>Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR.
<sup>3</sup>Chanwuyi Research Center for Neuropsychological Well-being, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR.
<sup>4</sup>School of Public Administration, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
<sup>5</sup>Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR.
Conference/Journal: PLoS One.
Date published: 2017 Mar 30
Other:
Volume ID: 12 , Issue ID: 3 , Pages: e0174906 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174906. eCollection 2017. , Word Count: 283
Music training can improve cognitive functions. Previous studies have shown that children and adults with music training demonstrate better verbal learning and memory performance than those without such training. Although prior studies have shown an association between music training and changes in the structural and functional organization of the brain, there is no concrete evidence of the underlying neural correlates of the verbal memory encoding phase involved in such enhanced memory performance. Therefore, we carried out an electroencephalography (EEG) study to investigate how music training was associated with brain activity during the verbal memory encoding phase. Sixty participants were recruited, 30 of whom had received music training for at least one year (the MT group) and 30 of whom had never received music training (the NMT group). The participants in the two groups were matched for age, education, gender distribution, and cognitive capability. Their verbal and visual memory functions were assessed using standardized neuropsychological tests and EEG was used to record their brain activity during the verbal memory encoding phase. Consistent with previous studies, the MT group demonstrated better verbal memory than the NMT group during both the learning and the delayed recall trials in the paper-and-pencil tests. The MT group also exhibited greater learning capacity during the learning trials. Compared with the NMT group, the MT group showed an increase in long-range left and right intrahemispheric EEG coherence in the theta frequency band during the verbal memory encoding phase. In addition, their event-related left intrahemispheric theta coherence was positively associated with subsequent verbal memory performance as measured by discrimination scores. These results suggest that music training may modulate the cortical synchronization of the neural networks involved in verbal memory formation.
PMID: 28358852 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174906