G),
which reflect the massed activity of synaptic potentials in countless brain
cells. . Does the amount of EEG similarity or "coherence"
among different regions of the brain reflect differences in experience
or training? To approach this question, Johnson, Petsche, Richter,
von Stein and Filz (Music Perception,, 1996, 13, 563-582)
analyzed the degree of EEG coherence during spontaneous waking
periods that were presumably devoid of any particular mental activity.
They studied the relationships of coherence both to gender and
degree of musical training. Females had higher coherence than
males. The authors conclude that the gender differences are in
accord with anatomical studies showing that females have more
interhemispheric connections than males. Of particular interest
for music, subjects with music training exhibited significantly
more EEG coherence within and between the hemispheres than matched
controls without such training. The authors suggest that greater
coherence in musicians "...may reflect a specialized organization
of brain activity in subjects with music training for enabling
the experiences of ordered acoustic patterns. ... music training
may influence the cortical connectivity that is observable even
in the spontaneous EEG." That is, the authors hypothesize
that musical training increases the number of functional interconnections
in the brain.
Music Improves Reasoning in Preschool Children
that music training significantly and specifically enhances spatial-temporal
reasoning in young children has recently found strong support.
Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb (Neurological
Research, 1996, in press) studied 78 children (3-4 years old)
divided into three groups. Thirty four children received private
piano keyboard lessons, 20 received equally frequent private computer
lessons and 24 served as other controls, receiving either singing
lessons (n=10) or no special lessons (n=14) for six months. Four
standard, age calibrated, spatial reasoning tests were given before
and after training; one test measured spatial-temporal reasoning
and three tests assessed spatial recognition. Post-treatment test
scores showed a significant improvement on the spatial-temporal
test only for the keyboard group. No group improved significantly
on the spatial recognition tests. That the computer group showed
no effect provides a control for extra attention, involvement,
etc. The authors suggest that the improvement in spatial reasoning
may be related to the linear spatial layout of the keyboard.
They propose that keyboard training may enhance the learning of
standard subjects, such as mathematics and science, in which spatial-temporal
reasoning is particularly important.
Rosenbaum, J.L. and Prinsky, L. (1991). The presumption of influence:
Recent responses to popular music subcultures. Crime &
Abstract: Studies the juvenile justice system in California within
a labeling theory context and outlines approaches currently taken
in response to teenagers who are part of the punk and heavy metal
subculture. 12 hospitals that have adolescent care programs responded
to a hypothetical situation in which the parents' main problem
with their child was music the child listened to, clothes the
child wore, and posters on the child's bedroom wall. 83% of the
facilities indicated that the youth needed hospitalization. Labeling
theory suggests that the process of labeling minors as juvenile
delinquents or mentally ill because of their dress and tastes
in music may have the effect of pushing them into a deviant role.
Without the negative label, the offending adolescent might simply
Music Perception, Cognition and Behavior
Bigand, E., Parncutt, R. and Lerdahl, F. (1996). Perception of musical tension in short chord sequences: the influence of harmonic function, sensory dissonance, horizontal motion, and musical training. Perception and Psychophysics, 58:124-141.
Abstract: This study investigates the effect of four variables (tonal hierarchies, sensory chordal consonance, horizontal motion, and musical training) on perceived musical te