Brain regions involved in skill memory: Research reports

skills

June 2002

More grey matter in the auditory cortex of musicians' brains

A German study has found that a region of the auditory cortex was more active in professional musicians listening to tones of varying frequencies compared to amateur musicians and considerably more active than that of non-musicians. More surprisingly, there was a very significant difference in the amount of "grey matter" in the part of the auditory cortex called the Heschl's gyrus. The structure contained 536 to 983 cubic millimetres of grey matter in professionals, 189 to 798 cubic millimetres in amateurs, and 172 to 450 cubic millimetres in non-musicians.
The report appeared in the July 1 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. Full reference
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_2044000/2044646.stm

August 2001

Another interesting facet to expert memory: how professional musicians process music

A magnetic-resonance study has found that professional musicians use their left brain more than other people when listening to music. In particular, while the planum temporale was activated in all subjects listening to music (a Bach piece), in non-musicians it was the right planum temporale that was most active, while in musicians the left side dominated. The left planum temporale is thought to control language processing. It may be that musicians process music as a language. This left-hand brain activity was most pronounced in people who had started musical training at an early age, as well as in those with absolute or 'perfect' pitch (suggesting that musical traits such as absolute pitch are the result of childhood training rather than genetic predisposition).
The study was reported in volume 11 of Cerebral Cortex. Full reference
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010816/010816-4.html

Chess experts and chess amateurs use different parts of their brain when they play

Professor Thomas Elbert, Ognjen Amidzic and colleagues at the University of Constance, Germany, used a new magnetic imaging technique to study chess players' brains in action. They found that mid-match activity in grandmasters' brains is mainly in regions thought to be involved in long-term memory - the frontal and parietal cortices. Amateur chess players relied more on the medial temporal lobe, which helps to encode new information, suggesting that they analyse situations afresh. The finding supports the idea that expertise depends on stored memory chunks that are called up when needed.
The report appeared in Nature, 412, p603. Full reference
http://www.nature.com/nsu/010809/010809-13.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1480000/1480365.stm

May 2001

Significant brain differences between professional musicians trained at an early age and non-musicians

Research has revealed significant differences in the gray matter distribution between professional musicians trained at an early age and non-musicians. It is most likely that this is due to intensive musical training at an early age, although it is also possible that the musicians were born with these differences, which led them to pursue musical training.
The study was presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 53rd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA Reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-05/AAoN-Mtdc-0705101.htm

rule induction

October 2001

Specific brain region implicated in rule induction

Another imaging study. This one provides evidence that the bilateral fronto-polar prefrontal cortices are involved in learning rules governing category membership. This supports the role of this region in reasoning and problem-solving.
The report appeared in the November issue of Cerebral Cortex. Full reference
http://cercor.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/11/11/1040

goal setting

October 2001

Role of prefrontal cortical regions in goal-directed behaviour

Goal-directed behaviour depends on keeping relevant information in mind (working memory) and irrelevant information out of mind (behavioural inhibition or interference resolution). Prefrontal cortex is essential for both working memory and for interference resolution, but it is unknown whether these two mental abilities are mediated by common or distinct prefrontal regions. An imaging study found there was a high degree of overlap between the regions activated by load and interference, while no region was activated exclusively by interference. The findings suggest that, within the circuitry engaged by this task, some regions are more critically involved in the resolution of interference whereas others are more involved in the resolution of an increase in load.
The report appeared in the October issue of Brain. Full reference
http://brain.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/124/10/2074