The influence of musical experience on lateralisation of auditory processing.
The influence of musical experience on free-recall dichotic listening to environmental sounds, two-tone sequences, and consonant-vowel (CV) syllables was investigated. A total of 60 healthy right-handed participants were divided into two groups according to their active musical competence ("musicians" and "non-musicians"). In both groups, we found a left ear advantage (LEA) for nonverbal stimuli (environmental sounds and two-tone sequences) and a right ear advantage (REA) for CV syllables. Dichotic listening to environmental sounds was uninfluenced by musical experience. The total accuracy of recall for two-tone sequences was higher in musicians than in non-musicians but the lateralisation was similar in both groups. For CV syllables a lower REA was found in male but not female musicians in comparison to non-musicians. The results indicate a specific sex-dependent effect of musical experience on lateralisation of phonological auditory processing.
Spajdel
Marián
M
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Trnava, Slovakia.
Jariabková
Katarína
K
Riecanský
Igor
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009146:Music; D010700:Phonetics; D011361:Professional Competence; D000091402:Prohibitins; D013016:Sound