TABLE 2.
Summary of findings of longitudinal neuroimaging studies on musical training and behavioral studies on predispositions to learning how to play an instrument.
| Study | Design |
Outcomes |
|||||||
| Author Year | N = | Age | Control | Instrument | Measurement | Number of time points (TP)/length of training | Experimental design/task | Post > Pre comparison | Prediction of learning success |
| MRI | |||||||||
| Chen et al., 2012 | 16 | Range: 20–34, M = 27.13 | resting silence | keyboard | task fMRI | single fMRI session | play the piano | ↓ activation left dorsal and ventral PMC ↑ activation right retrosplenial cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, frontal pole | ↓ activation left dorsal PMC while training |
| listen to trained melodies | ↓ activation bilateral STG | ||||||||
| Brown and Penhune, 2018 | 16 | M = 24.2 | listening, resting silence | keyboard | task fMRI | single fMRI session | play the piano | ↓ activation parietal regions compared to listening ↓ activation superior parietal, inferior parietal, auditory cortex, PMC ↑ occipital cortex | |
| listen to trained melodies | ↑ occipital, temporal cortex, PMC, cerebellum ↓ auditory cortex | ||||||||
| Tavor et al., 2020 | 32 | M = 25.7, SD = 3.1 | pre-post design | piano | mean diffusivity | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 45 min) | – | ↓ mean diffusivity left PMC, bilateral superior cerebellum, left MTG | |
| TP2 (TP1 + 40 min) | – | ↓ mean diffusivity left PMC, bilateral superior cerebellum, left MTG, lingual gyrus | |||||||
| Amad et al., 2016 | 15 | 16–19 | control group N = 16 | drums | rs-fMRI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 8 weeks) | – | ↑ FC between posterior bilateral STG (seed) and whole brain ↑ FC between STG (seed) and premotor region and right parietal lobe ↓ FC between STG (seed) and cerebellum | |
| Herholz et al., 2016 | 15 | Range: 20–34, M = 25.6 | control timepoint before training | piano | task fMRI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 6 weeks) | listen (familiar vs random) | ↑ activation left dorsal PMC | ↑ activation right Heschl’s gyrus, right hippocampus ↓ activation medial frontal areas and frontal pole |
| listen & imagine (trained vs untrained) | ↑ activation PMC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, bilateral posterior parietal cortex, bilateral cerebellum | – | |||||||
| imagine (trained vs untrained) | ↓ activation lateral occipital cortex | – | |||||||
| Wollman et al., 2018 | 13 | Range: 20–31, M ± 26 ± 4 | listen to untrained melody | cello | task fMRI | TP0 (before training) TP2 (TP0 + 4 weeks) | listen | ↑ activation pre-SMA & SMA ↑ activation right dorsal PMC ↑ activation left posterior parietal cortex | ↑ activation right STG, right putamen, left middle frontal gyrus, pre-SMA |
| task fMRI | TP1 (TP0 + 1 week) TP2 (TP1 + 3 weeks) | play the cello | – | ↑ activation right STG, hippocampus | |||||
| task fMRI connectivity | TP0 (before training) TP2 (TP0 + 4 weeks) | listen | ↑ FC between superior parietal lobe (seed) and bilateral auditory cortex ↑ FC between superior parietal lobe (seed) and SMA | ↑ FC between pre-SMA (seed) and bilateral superior temporal gyrus | |||||
| rs-fMRI | TP0 (before training) TP2 (TP0 + 4 weeks) | rest pre-training | – | ↑ FC between pre-SMA (seed) and planum temporale | |||||
| Li et al., 2018 | 29 | exp. group: M = 23.10 ± 1.37 control group: M = 23.33 ± 1.39 | control group N = 27 | piano | rs-fMRI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 24 weeks) | – | ↑ FC between the right postcentral and the right precentral gyri ↑ FC between the sensorimotor and the auditory region | – |
| DTI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 24 weeks) | – | ↑ FA between the sensorimotor and the auditory regions | – | |||||
| Li et al., 2019 | 29 | exp. group: M = 23.10 ±1.37 control group: M = 23.33 ±1.39 | control group N = 27 | piano | rs-fMRI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 24 weeks) | – | ↑ flexibility in the visual and auditory cortices | – |
| Vaquero et al., 2018 | 35 | M = 22.16, SD = 2.56 | piano | DTI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 15*min) | melody training | – | ↑ volume right anterior arcuate fasciculus | |
| 24 | piano | DTI | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 10*min) | rhythm training | – | ↑ volume right arcuate fasciculus (long segment) ↑ FA right arcuate fasciculus | |||
| EEG/MEG | |||||||||
| Lappe et al., 2008; Pantev et al., 2009 | 10 | Range: 24–38 | control group N = 10 (auditory training) | piano | MEG | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 2 weeks) | sensorimotor-auditory vs auditory training | ↑ amplitude MMN auditory cortex | – |
| Paraskevopoulos et al., 2012 | 12 | M = 25.86, SD = 3.17 | Control group N = 12 (auditory-visual training) | Piano | MEG | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 2 weeks) | auditory-visual-sensorimotor vs auditory-visual training - audio-visual task | ↑ activation MMN STG (Broca area 22) | – |
| Bangert and Altenmüller, 2003 | 9 | M = 26.2 ±5.3 | control group N = 8 (random pitch assignment) | piano | DC-EEG | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 20 min) | conventional vs randomly changing pitch assignment | ↑ activation left primary sensorimotor cortex ↑ activation right fronto-temporal electrodes | – |
| TP0 (before training) TP2 (TP0 + 5 weeks) | conventional vs randomly changing pitch assignment | ↑ activation right fronto-temporal electrodes | – | ||||||
| Behavioral | |||||||||
| Bianco et al., 2019 | 27 | M = 24.74 ±5.03 | piano | n/a | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 12*min) | – | – | ↑ liking attitude toward learned melody | |
| Burgoyne et al., 2019 | 161 | Range: 18–25 M = 20.19 SD = 1.47 | piano | n/a | TP0 (before training) TP1 (TP0 + 6*min) TP2 (TP1 + 6*min) | – | – | ↑ intelligence | |
The studies had to incorporate at least two measurement time points (before and after musical training). M, mean; SD, standard deviation; PMC, premotor cortex; STG, superior temporal gyrus; SMA, supplementary motor area; pre-SMA, pre-supplementary motor area; MTG, middle temporal gyrus, FC, functional connectivity; FA, fractional anisotropy; *, training duration estimated from manuscript text.