Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan

Experiment III 124
underlying syntax processing in music and language, these children were also expected
to have an enlarged amplitude of their neurophysiological correlates of linguisticsyntactic
processing.
11.2 Methods
Participants
9-year old children (N = 42) were assigned to groups depending on whether they had or
had not received extracurricular musical training. All were right-handed (according to
the Edinburg Handedness Inventory; Oldfield, 1971), native speakers of German. They
did not have any known hearing or neurological deficits, nor attention deficit disorders,
nor reading or learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia). All parents gave a written informed
consent to allow their children to participate in the experiment. Children and parents
were compensated as in Experiment II.
The children with musical training (MT; N = 23) were recruited from the public music
school in Leipzig. Children were excluded, if any of the following three conditions was
met: [1] The EEG measurement could not be evaluated (due to many artefacts; 1 girl
and 1 boy excluded), [2] there were any problems or delays in their language development
(1 boy excluded), or [3] the group classification was not clear (e.g., if the children
stopped to learn an instrument; 1 boy excluded). Finally, 19 children were evaluated (12
girls, 7 boys; 8;5 to 9;11 years old, M = 9;4 years). They had played an instrument for
17 to 69 months (M = 40 months).
The children without musical training (NM; N = 19) never learned an instrument or
received no singing lessons and did not have any special musical education besides
normal school education. They were recruited from public schools in Leipzig. Children
were excluded, if [1] the experiment could not be finished (e.g., due to lack of compliance
or problems with the measurement; 1 girl and 1 boy excluded), [2] they had language
impairment or learning difficulty (1 girl and 2 boys excluded), or [3] the group
classification was not clear (e.g., if the child started to learn an instrument for less than
1 year; 1 girl excluded). Finally, 13 children were evaluated (8;1 to 9;11 years old, M =
9;1 years; 4 girls, 9 boys).
There was no group difference in the results of the verbal part of the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children (HAWIK-III; Tewes, Rossmann, & Schallberger, 2000). These
analyses are described in the “Results” section. Further, there was no difference in duration
of their mother’s education, or the socio-economic status values of their mother’s
occupation (ISEI; Ganzeboom & Treiman, 1996). The values of their father’s duration
of education and socio-economic status were larger in the MT group. However, in Ex-