News Finding: Not surprisingly, the study found that musicians have more potent oscillatory mechanisms than do non-musicians--but this discovery's importance goes beyond the value of musical instruction.
Paper Finding: ref.
News Context: "Specifically, our findings show that the presence of these rhythms enhances our perception of music and of pitch changes." Not surprisingly, the study found that musicians have more potent oscillatory mechanisms than do non-musicians--but this discovery's importance goes beyond the value of musical instruction. "What this shows is we can be trained, in effect, to make more efficient use of our auditory-detection systems," observes study coauthor David Poeppel, a professor in psychology department and Center for Neural Science and director of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt.
Paper Context: This higher-level network could generate more regular and precise temporal predictions and-through feedback connections-modulate stimulus entrainment to be more accurate (cf. ref. As musical training requires synchronous processing of somatosensory, motor, and visual areas, these areas will likely provide modulatory rhythmic input into auditory cortex, further enhancing entrainment to the musical stimulus.