While previous research has discovered that hearing music (especially classical music) includes a positive effect on a person’s cognitive ability and brain function, the molecular mechanisms responsible for these benefits had remained unclear C until now.
Researchers from the Haartman Institute Department of Medical Genetics at the University of Helsinki in Finland, the University of the Arts’ Sibelius Academy (a music institution) and also the Aalto University Department of knowledge and Information technology investigated the consequence of musical performance around the gene expression profiles of professional musicians.
“Several neuroscientific studies have indicated that the brains of professional musicians and non-musicians differ structurally and functionally and that musical training enhances cognition,” the authors wrote inside a recent edition of the journal Scientific Reports. “However, the molecules and molecular mechanisms involved in music performance remain largely unexplored.”
They investigated the effect that music is wearing the genome-wide peripheral blood transcriptome of professional musicians. The research team analyzed the gene expression profiles of members of a professional orchestra (Tapiola Sinfonietta) and the Sibelius-Academy following a two-hour long concert performance, and then again following a “music-free” control session.
The researchers discovered that playing music enhanced the activity of genes involved in motor function, dopaminergic neurotransmission, neuronal plasticity, and neurocognitive functions including learning and memory. Particularly, some of the genes involved in song perception and production in songbirds (including SNCA, FOS, and DUSP1) were identified, suggesting there is a potential link to the biological processes related to sound perception and gratifaction.
“Additionally, modulation of genes associated with calcium ion homeostasis, iron ion homeostasis, glutathione metabolism, and many neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases implied that music performance may modify the biological pathways that are otherwise required for the correct maintenance of neuronal function and survival,” the study authors wrote.
“The findings provide a valuable background for molecular studies of music perception and evolution, and music therapy,” said lead investigator Dr. Irma J?rvel? in the University of Helsinki. She and her colleagues asserted their work offers the first evidence for the candidate genes and molecular mechanisms thought to be related to performing music.
A similar study conducted by researchers from Boston’s Children Hospital last summer revealed that musical training can help determine a person’s academic success whilst having a lasting help to their executive brain functions throughout the remainder of their lives.
In that study, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to establish a possible biological link between formal musical training along with a increase in brainpower. The work they do, that was published online within the journal PLOS One, demonstrated how the fMRI of brain areas considered to be linked to executive function were more active in musicians than in non-musicians.
“Since executive functioning is really a strong predictor of educational achievement, even more than IQ, we believe our findings have strong educational implications,” said senior investigator Dr. Nadine Gaab from the hospital’s Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience. “While many schools are cutting music programs and spending more and more time on test preparation, our findings suggest that musical training might actually assistance to setup children for any better academic future.”
