Quantitative proton MR spectroscopic findings of cortical reorganization in the auditory cortex of musicians.
OBJECTIVE
Brain has a capacity for reorganization that enables use-dependent adaptations to acquire skills. Previous studies demonstrated morphometric and functional use-dependent changes in the brains of musicians. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in metabolite concentrations in the planum temporale, an area strongly associated with the processing of music perception, between trained musicians and non-musicians. We hypothesized that the microscopic changes leading to use-dependent adaptations in brain might cause neurometabolite changes that could be detected with quantitative proton MR spectroscopy.


METHODS
We performed quantitative proton MR spectroscopy in the left planum temporale of 10 musicians (six men and four women; age range, 20-37 years) and in those of 10 age- and sex-matched control subjects who had no musical training. We calculated the major metabolite concentrations in the left planum temporale.


RESULTS
The difference in N-acetylaspartate (NAA) concentrations between the musicians and the non-musician control subjects was statistically significant (P <.01). No significant difference was noted in the choline and creatine concentrations between the musicians and the non-musician control subjects (P >.05). The NAA concentration of the musicians correlated with the total duration of musical training and activity (r=0.733, P <.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Long-term, professional musical activity caused significant changes in the neurometabolite concentrations that might reflect the physiologic mechanism(s) of use-dependent adaptation in the brains of musicians.
Aydin
Kubilay
K
Department of Radiology, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Etiler, Turkey.
Ciftci
Koray
K
Terzibasioglu
Ege
E
Ozkan
Mehmed
M
Demirtas
Asli
A
Sencer
Serra
S
Minareci
Ozenc
O
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002794:Choline / Q000378:metabolism; D003401:Creatine / Q000378:metabolism; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D012016:Reference Values; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000033:anatomy & histology
D001224:Aspartic Acid; C000179:N-acetylaspartate; D003401:Creatine; D002794:Choline