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The musician's brain as a model of neuroplasticity

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 3, pages 473–478 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Studies of experience-driven neuroplasticity at the behavioural, ensemble, cellular and molecular levels have shown that the structure and significance of the eliciting stimulus can determine the neural changes that result. Studying such effects in humans is difficult, but professional musicians represent an ideal model in which to investigate plastic changes in the human brain. There are two advantages to studying plasticity in musicians: the complexity of the eliciting stimulus — music — and the extent of their exposure to this stimulus. Here, we focus on the functional and anatomical differences that have been detected in musicians by modern neuroimaging methods.

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Figure 1: Example of a hypercomplex musical score.
Figure 2: Structural changes in the brains of musicians.
Figure 3: Sensorimotor integration in musicians.
Figure 4: Fusion of the somatosensory representation of single digits of the hand in a musician suffering from focal dystonia.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Department of Neuropsychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Universitätsplatz 2, Gebäude 24, Magdeburg, 39106, Germany

    Thomas F. Münte

  2. the Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine, Hannover School of Music and Drama, Emmich Platz 1, Hannover, 30175, Germany

    Eckart Altenmüller

  3. the Department of Neuropsychology, University of Zürich, Zürichberg Strasse 43, Zürich, CH-8044, Switzerland

    Lutz Jäncke

Authors
  1. Thomas F. Münte
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  2. Eckart Altenmüller
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  3. Lutz Jäncke
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Correspondence to Thomas F. Münte.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

auditory processing

brain imaging: observing ongoing neural activity

cortical plasticity: use-dependent remodelling

magnetic resonance imaging

topographic maps in the brain

MIT Encyclopedia of Cognitive Sciences

auditory plasticity

electrophysiology, electric and magnetic evoked fields

magnetic resonance imaging

neural plasticity

positron emission tomography

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Münte, T., Altenmüller, E. & Jäncke, L. The musician's brain as a model of neuroplasticity. Nat Rev Neurosci 3, 473–478 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn843

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