title: Morphology of Heschl's gyrus reflects enhanced activation in the auditory cortex of musicians.
abstract: Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we compared the processing of sinusoidal tones in the auditory cortex of 12 non-musicians, 12 professional musicians and 13 amateur musicians. We found neurophysiological and anatomical differences between groups. In professional musicians as compared to non-musicians, the activity evoked in primary auditory cortex 19-30 ms after stimulus onset was 102% larger, and the gray matter volume of the anteromedial portion of Heschl's gyrus was 130% larger. Both quantities were highly correlated with musical aptitude, as measured by psychometric evaluation. These results indicate that both the morphology and neurophysiology of Heschl's gyrus have an essential impact on musical aptitude.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 12, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. Peter_Schneider@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scherg
authors.forename: H Günter
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Dosch
authors.forename: Hans J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Specht
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gutschalk
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rupp
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001076:Aptitude / Q000502:physiology*; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*