The effect of early musical training on adult motor performance: evidence for a sensitive period in motor learning.
This experiment demonstrates that musicians who began training before age seven perform better on a rhythmic tapping task than musicians who began after the age of seven, when the two groups are matched for years of experience. These results support the idea that there may be a sensitive period in childhood for motor training, similar to that observed for language learning.
Penhune
Virginia
V
Laboratory for Motor Learning and Neural Plasticity, Department of Psychology, SP-A 244, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke W, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada. vpenhune@vax2.concordia.ca
Watanabe
Donald
D
Savion-Lemieux
Tal
T
D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D009048:Motor Skills; D009146:Music; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception