Learning foreign languages can affect the processing of music in the
brain

Date:
August 3, 2021
Source:
University of Helsinki
Summary:
Research has shown that a music-related hobby boosts language skills
and affects the processing of speech in the brain. According to a
new study, the reverse also happens -- learning foreign languages
can affect the processing of music in the brain.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Research has shown that a music-related hobby boosts language skills and affects the processing of speech in the brain. According to a new study,
the reverse also happens -- learning foreign languages can affect the processing of music in the brain.


========================================================================== Research Director Mari Tervaniemi from the University of Helsinki's
Faculty of Educational Sciences investigated, in cooperation with
researchers from the Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the University
of Turku, the link in the brain between language acquisition and music processing in Chinese elementary school pupils aged 8-11 by monitoring,
for one school year, children who attended a music training programme and
a similar programme for the English language. Brain responses associated
with auditory processing were measured in the children before and after
the programmes. Tervaniemi compared the results to those of children
who attended other training programmes.

"The results demonstrated that both the music and the language programme
had an impact on the neural processing of auditory signals," Tervaniemi
says.

Learning achievements extend from language acquisition to music
Surprisingly, attendance in the English training programme enhanced
the processing of musically relevant sounds, particularly in terms of
pitch processing.

"A possible explanation for the finding is the language background of
the children, as understanding Chinese, which is a tonal language, is
largely based on the perception of pitch, which potentially equipped
the study subjects with the ability to utilise precisely that trait
when learning new things. That's why attending the language training
programme facilitated the early neural auditory processes more than the
musical training." Tervaniemi says that the results support the notion
that musical and linguistic brain functions are closely linked in the developing brain. Both music and language acquisition modulate auditory perception. However, whether they produce similar or different results in
the developing brain of school-age children has not been systematically investigated in prior studies.

At the beginning of the training programmes, the number of children
studied using electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings was 120, of whom
more than 80 also took part in EEG recordings a year later, after the programme.

In the music training, the children had the opportunity to sing a lot:
they were taught to sing from both hand signs and sheet music. The
language training programme emphasised the combination of spoken and
written English, that is, simultaneous learning. At the same time,
the English language employs an orthography that is different from
Chinese. The one-hour programme sessions were held twice a week after
school on school premises throughout the school year, with roughly 20
children and two teachers attending at a time.

"In both programmes the children liked the content of the lessons which
was very interactive and had many means to support communication between
the children and the teacher" says Professor Sha Tao who led the study
in Beijing.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Helsinki. Original
written by Mari Peltonen. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mari Tervaniemi, Vesa Putkinen, Peixin Nie, Cuicui Wang, Bin Du,
Jing Lu,
Shuting Li, Benjamin Ultan Cowley, Tuisku Tammi, Sha Tao. Improved
Auditory Function Caused by Music Versus Foreign Language Training
at School Age: Is There a Difference? Cerebral Cortex, 2021; DOI:
10.1093/ cercor/bhab194 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210803105546.htm

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