Shahin Antoine, Bosnyak Daniel J, Trainor Laurel J, Roberts Larry E
Unit of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1.
J Neurosci. 2003 Jul 2;23(13):5545-52. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-13-05545.2003.
P2 and N1c components of the auditory evoked potential (AEP) have been shown to be sensitive to remodeling of the auditory cortex by training at pitch discrimination in nonmusician subjects. Here, we investigated whether these neuroplastic components of the AEP are enhanced in musicians in accordance with their musical training histories. Highly skilled violinists and pianists and nonmusician controls listened under conditions of passive attention to violin tones, piano tones, and pure tones matched in fundamental frequency to the musical tones. Compared with nonmusician controls, both musician groups evidenced larger N1c (latency, 138 msec) and P2 (latency, 185 msec) responses to the three types of tonal stimuli. As in training studies with nonmusicians, N1c enhancement was expressed preferentially in the right hemisphere, where auditory neurons may be specialized for processing of spectral pitch. Equivalent current dipoles fitted to the N1c and P2 field patterns localized to spatially differentiable regions of the secondary auditory cortex, in agreement with previous findings. These results suggest that the tuning properties of neurons are modified in distributed regions of the auditory cortex in accordance with the acoustic training history (musical- or laboratory-based) of the subject. Enhanced P2 and N1c responses in musicians need not be considered genetic or prenatal markers for musical skill.
听觉诱发电位（AEP）的P2和N1c成分已被证明，在非音乐家受试者进行音高辨别训练时，对听觉皮层的重塑很敏感。在此，我们研究了AEP的这些神经可塑性成分在音乐家身上是否会根据他们的音乐训练经历而增强。高技能小提琴家和钢琴家以及非音乐家对照组在被动注意的条件下聆听小提琴音、钢琴音以及与音乐音基频匹配的纯音。与非音乐家对照组相比，两个音乐家组对这三种类型的音调刺激均表现出更大的N1c（潜伏期138毫秒）和P2（潜伏期185毫秒）反应。与对非音乐家的训练研究一样，N1c增强优先表现在右半球，那里的听觉神经元可能专门用于处理频谱音高。拟合到N1c和P2场模式的等效电流偶极定位于次级听觉皮层的空间可区分区域，这与先前的研究结果一致。这些结果表明，根据受试者的声学训练经历（基于音乐或实验室），听觉皮层的分布区域中神经元的调谐特性会发生改变。音乐家增强的P2和N1c反应无需被视为音乐技能的遗传或产前标记。
