CERVO Brain Research Center, Quebec, G1J 2G3, Canada.
Département de Réadaptation, Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, 1050 avenue de la Médecine, Office 4109, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada.
Brain Struct Funct. 2022 Apr;227(3):943-962. doi: 10.1007/s00429-021-02433-2. Epub 2022 Jan 11.
Limited evidence has shown that practising musical activities in aging, such as choral singing, could lessen age-related speech perception in noise (SPiN) difficulties. However, the robustness and underlying mechanism of action of this phenomenon remain unclear. In this study, we used surface-based morphometry combined with a moderated mediation analytic approach to examine whether singing-related plasticity in auditory and dorsal speech stream regions is associated with better SPiN capabilities. 36 choral singers and 36 non-singers aged 20-87 years underwent cognitive, auditory, and SPiN assessments. Our results provide important new insights into experience-dependent plasticity by revealing that, under certain conditions of practice, amateur choral singing is associated with age-dependent structural plasticity within auditory and dorsal speech regions, which is associated with better SPiN performance in aging. Specifically, the conditions of practice that were associated with benefits on SPiN included frequent weekly practice at home, several hours of weekly group singing practice, singing in multiple languages, and having received formal singing training. These results suggest that amateur choral singing is associated with improved SPiN through a dual mechanism involving auditory processing and auditory-motor integration and may be dose dependent, with more intense singing associated with greater benefit. Our results, thus, reveal that the relationship between singing practice and SPiN is complex, and underscore the importance of considering singing practice behaviours in understanding the effects of musical activities on the brain-behaviour relationship.
有限的证据表明，在衰老过程中进行音乐活动，如合唱，可能会减轻与年龄相关的语音感知在噪声中的困难（SPiN）。然而，这种现象的稳健性和潜在作用机制尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们使用基于表面的形态测量学结合适度中介分析方法，来研究与歌唱相关的听觉和背侧言语流区域的可塑性是否与更好的 SPiN 能力相关。36 名合唱歌手和 36 名 20-87 岁的非歌手接受了认知、听觉和 SPiN 评估。我们的结果通过揭示在某些实践条件下，业余合唱与听觉和背侧言语区域内与年龄相关的结构可塑性相关，从而为经验依赖性可塑性提供了重要的新见解，这与衰老过程中更好的 SPiN 表现相关。具体来说，与 SPiN 受益相关的实践条件包括在家中每周频繁练习、每周数小时的集体唱歌练习、用多种语言唱歌以及接受过正式的唱歌训练。这些结果表明，业余合唱通过涉及听觉处理和听觉-运动整合的双重机制与改善 SPiN 相关，并且可能与剂量有关，更强烈的歌唱与更大的益处相关。因此，我们的结果表明，歌唱练习与 SPiN 之间的关系是复杂的，并强调了考虑歌唱练习行为在理解音乐活动对大脑-行为关系的影响的重要性。
