Increased auditory cortical representation in musicians
Increased auditory cortical representation in musicians
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作者：
Pantev, C;Oostenveld, R;Hoke, M
声音刺激通过神经元在整个听觉投射通路（包括新皮质）中进行处理，这些神经元根据其特定的频率调谐聚合成“音调”图 (1-3)。对动物的研究表明，音位表征在成人有机体中并不是静态固定的，而是可以在耳蜗受损后重新组织(4) 或在训练完整的受试者辨别听觉刺激后(5)。在这里，我们使用功能磁源成像（单偶极模型）来测量高技能音乐家的皮质表征。研究发现，与从未演奏过乐器的对照组相比，音乐家的钢琴音调偶极矩增大了约 25%，但基频相似（响度匹配）的纯音则不然。放大程度与音乐家开始练习的年龄相关，并且在绝对或相对音高的音乐家之间没有差异。这些结果，当用熟练小提琴家指法手指的体感表征的修改证据来解释时(6)，表明依赖于使用的功能重组延伸到感觉皮层，以反映受试者在音乐技能发展过程中处理的感觉输入模式。
Acoustic stimuli are processed throughout the auditory projection pathway including the neocortex, by neurons that are aggregated into 'tonotopic' maps according to their specific frequency tunings(1-3). Research on animals has shown that tonotopic representations are not statically fixed in the adult organism but can reorganize after damage to the cochlea(4) or after training the intact subject to discriminate between auditory stimuli(5). Here we used functional magnetic source imaging (single dipole model) to measure cortical representations int highly skilled musicians. Dipole moments for piano tones, but not for pure tones of similar fundamental frequency (matched in loudness), were found to be enlarged by about 25% in musicians compared with control subjects who had never played an instrument. Enlargement was correlated with the age at which musicians began to practise and did not differ between musicians with absolute or relative pitch. These results, when interpreted with evidence for modified somatosensory representations of the fingering digits in skilled violinists(6), suggest that use-dependent functional reorganization extends across the sensory cortices to reflect the pattern of sensory input processed by the subject during development of musical skill.