Experience-induced plasticity in the attention system of healthy adults practising musical or non-musical activities

It is well known that executive functions, such as attention and inhibition, decline with aging. It has been suggested that the practice of a musical activity, such as singing or playing an instrument can reduce this decline through experience-induced brain plasticity. However, little is known about the plasticity mechanisms associated with different musical activities and those associated with non-musical activities. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the relationship between attention and cortical aging in the attention system of amateur singers, instrument players and active non-musicians with a focus on plasticity mechanisms. One hundred and nine healthy adults, aged between 20 and 88, were recruited and separated into 3 carefully matched groups: 34 singers, 38 instrumentalists, and 37 active non-musicians. Auditory selective attention and visual inhibition were evaluated, and anatomical MRI images were acquired. Our results confirm that aging is associated with poorer cognitive performance and thinner cortical grey matter, and further suggest that practising a musical activity is associated with greater compensatory scaffolding compared to practising a non-musical activity. However, more experience was not always associated with reduced age-related cortical thinning, meaning that, in some regions, more experience was associated with thicker cortex and in others, with thinner cortex. Importantly, the results for singers and instrumentalists suggest distinct underlying plasticity mechanisms.