Musical Training Influences Auditory Temporal Processing

• Main Authors: Elangovan, Saravanan, Payne, Nicole, Smurzynski, Jacek, Fagelson, Marc A.
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2016
• Subjects: audiology; music; musical training; auditory temporal processing; auditory cortex; phonetics; speech perception; gap detection; categorical perception; speech recognition in noise; Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology; Speech Pathology and Audiology
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/1551; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2577&context=etsu-works

Background: A link between musical expertise and auditory temporal processing abilities was examined. Material and methods: Trained musicians (n=13) and non-musicians (n=12) were tested on speech tasks (phonetic identification, speech recognition in noise) and non-speech tasks (temporal gap detection). Results: Results indicated musicians had shorter between-channel gap detection thresholds and sharper phonetic identification functions, suggesting that perceptual reorganization following musical training assists basic temporal auditory processes. Conclusions: In general, our results provide a conceptual advance in understanding how musical training influences speech processing, an ability which, when impaired, can affect speech and reading competency.