Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan
Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan
Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan
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General Discussion 161<br />
fered between the two groups. In the language experiment, an ELAN was not present <strong>in</strong><br />
any <strong>of</strong> the two groups. 32 The amplitude <strong>of</strong> the later susta<strong>in</strong>ed negativity (LSN; which<br />
reflects a violation <strong>of</strong> the l<strong>in</strong>guistic syntax <strong>and</strong> is regarded as a precursor <strong>of</strong> the ELAN<br />
<strong>in</strong> children) did not differ between the two groups (MT vs. NM). This <strong>in</strong>dicates that the<br />
relatively short period <strong>of</strong> musical tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g might not be sufficient to evoke transfer effects<br />
between music-syntactic <strong>and</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic-syntactic process<strong>in</strong>g (that would be <strong>in</strong>dicated<br />
by differences <strong>in</strong> the ERP responses between the two groups). Influences <strong>of</strong> the<br />
education <strong>and</strong> the socio-economic status <strong>of</strong> the parents <strong>and</strong> the <strong>in</strong>telligence <strong>of</strong> the children<br />
were statistically controlled – correlation analyses revealed no <strong>in</strong>teraction <strong>of</strong> these<br />
factors with the amplitudes <strong>of</strong> the ERP components that were <strong>in</strong>vestigated.<br />
Experiment IV <strong>in</strong>vestigated the process<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> musical <strong>and</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic syntax <strong>in</strong> 11-year<br />
old children that were either musically tra<strong>in</strong>ed (N = 21) or not (N = 20). The experimental<br />
paradigm was the same as <strong>in</strong> Experiment III. Two ma<strong>in</strong> f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs were obta<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
<strong>in</strong> this experiment: Firstly, an enlarged amplitude size <strong>of</strong> the ERAN was found <strong>in</strong> MT<br />
children compared to the NM children (similar to the results <strong>in</strong> Experiment III). Secondly,<br />
a group difference was observed <strong>in</strong> the neural correlates <strong>of</strong> the process<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong><br />
l<strong>in</strong>guistic syntax: for children with MT both a significant ELAN amplitude size as well<br />
as a significantly enlarged amplitude size <strong>of</strong> the LSN was found. Most remarkably, an<br />
ELAN was present <strong>in</strong> the group <strong>of</strong> children with MT but not <strong>in</strong> the group <strong>of</strong> children<br />
with NM. That is, musical tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g may lead to earlier established processes <strong>of</strong> fast <strong>and</strong><br />
automatic structure build<strong>in</strong>g that are reflected <strong>in</strong> the ELAN. In addition, the amplitude<br />
size <strong>of</strong> the LSN was enlarged <strong>in</strong> MT children. Both f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs suggest that musical tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />
may not only leads to an improved music-syntactic process<strong>in</strong>g but also to a similar<br />
improvement for l<strong>in</strong>guistic- syntactic process<strong>in</strong>g. This aga<strong>in</strong>, emphasizes the strong<br />
overlap <strong>of</strong> the neural correlates <strong>of</strong> musical <strong>and</strong> l<strong>in</strong>guistic syntax process<strong>in</strong>g. Some accounts<br />
to this difference will be discussed <strong>in</strong> more detail below (see 14.3). Most presumably,<br />
these differences <strong>in</strong> the ERP responses between the two groups <strong>of</strong> children<br />
(MT vs. NM) can not be accounted for by external variables as the education <strong>and</strong> the<br />
socio-economic status <strong>of</strong> their parents or the <strong>in</strong>telligence <strong>of</strong> the children – these variables<br />
were matched <strong>and</strong> did not differ between the two groups.<br />
Table 14-1 provides an overview <strong>of</strong> the <strong>in</strong>vestigated ERP components <strong>and</strong> if these were<br />
observed <strong>in</strong> the different subgroups <strong>and</strong> age groups. Both, ERAN <strong>and</strong> N5 reflect musicsyntactic<br />
process<strong>in</strong>g. An ERAN was found <strong>in</strong> the children <strong>of</strong> all age groups. It was ab-<br />
32<br />
It should be mentioned that we did not expect to f<strong>in</strong>d an ELAN because this ERP component was demonstrated<br />
to develop for sentences with passive mode construction until around 13 years <strong>of</strong> age (cf. Hahne et<br />
al., 2004).