Jennifer Zuk|Christopher Benjamin|Arnold Kenyon|Nadine Gaab
Behavioral and Neural Correlates of Executive Functioning in Musicians and Non-Musicians
Harvard University|Boston Children's Hospital|University of California, Los Angeles|Harvard University|Boston Children's Hospital|Boston Children's Hospital|Harvard University|Boston Children's Hospital
executive functions ef cognitive capacities allow planned controlled behavior strongly correlate academic abilities several extracurricular activities shown improve ef however relationship musical training ef remains unclear due methodological limitations previous studies explore two experiments performed one 30 adults without musical training one 27 musically trained untrained children matched general cognitive abilities socioeconomic variables standardized ef battery furthermore neural correlates ef skills musically trained untrained children investigated using fmri adult musicians compared nonmusicians showed enhanced performance measures cognitive flexibility working memory verbal fluency musically trained children showed enhanced performance measures verbal fluency processing speed significantly greater activation presmasma right vlpfc rule representation taskswitching compared musically untrained children overall musicians show enhanced performance several constructs ef musically trained children show heightened brain activation traditional ef regions taskswitching results support working hypothesis musical training may promote development maintenance certain ef skills could mediate previously reported links musical training enhanced cognitive skills academic achievement