Corpus callosal connectivity in the musician’s brain: Evidence for training-related structural and functional plasticity

Abstract: Long-term musical expertise has been linked with a variety of functional and structural brain changes, making it an attractive model for investigating plasticity in humans. Musical training on most musical instruments involves the interaction between precisely coordinated bimanual hand movements, sensory systems, and higher cognitive functions that typically requires fine-tuning over years of practice. Using musicians as a model, I will present some of our recent research investigating factors that are important for training-related plasticity. This work investigates how the corpus callosum of musicians is affected by the age of onset of musical training and the type of musical instrument on which they train.

Chris Steele, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral fellow, Max Planck Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig Germany

*Please note this talk will be in English.