The musical brain

  Studies by Schlaug (Science 267:699-701) and others have shown that musicians with absolute pitch ability have a greater asymmetry between the left and the right planum temporale (a part of the auditory cortex), as compared to others. According to these studies, the absolute pitch ability is almost exclusively acquired if the musical studies begin before the age of seven, and almost never after eleven years. There are, nevertheless, companies selling the absolute pitch developing products, which supposedly work independent of the age of the customer. If they really work is not the point of this article however. The message here is that the brain with that kind of planum temporale asymmetry suggests that processing of information through the neuronal connections is made more efficient if one brain hemisphere is responsible for several related functions (in this case the auditory impressions). Connection between the two brain hemispheres is probably not that efficient at the start of a musician s career, so the brain of a practicing musician is changing its plasticity in one particular area of one hemisphere, where the sound processing is made to be the most optimal.

   The young musicians also show a remarkably large anterior corpus callosum (the part connecting the two brain hemispheres), as opposed to other people and musicians starting their careers at an older age. This enlargement probably enhances complex motorical activities (movements), outgoing from the motoric cortex.

   Another part of our head responsible for motorical activities  the cerebellum  is also larger among the male musicians as compared to the male non-musicians. However, females do not show any differences, possibly because the female cerebellum develops its full capacity faster than the male dito. Cerebellum is important for movement coordination, thus very important for a practicing musician.

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