EFFECT OF CARNATIC VOCAL MUSIC TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE ON CORTICAL AUDITORY EVOKED POTENTIALS

Abstract

Background: A musician’s ability to produce a precise pitch must involve some kind of neuroplasticity, allowing them to control fundamental frequency, maintain target pitch, and accurately control pitch through auditory perceptual monitoring. The present study uses cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) to investigate neuroplasticity by assessing the latency of P1, N1, P2, and N2 as well as the peak-to-peak amplitudes P1–N1, N1–P2, and P2–N2 in two groups of subjects: Carnatic vocal musicians and non-musicians. Materials and methods: Two groups of normal hearing females aged 18 to 25 years. There were 20 Carnatic vocal musicians (Indian classical music of south India) and 20 non-musicians. Pure tones were used as stimuli. Results: Descriptive statistics revealed lower latency and greater peak-to-peak amplitude for all measures in the Carnatic vo- cal musicians compared to the non-musicians. MANOVA showed that vocalists had significantly better (shorter) N1, P2, and N2 latencies and significantly better (greater) peak-to-peak amplitude of P1–N1. Conclusions: The present study showed some significantly enhanced CAEP parameters in Carnatic vocal musicians compared to non-musicians. This indicates that musical experience has an effect on the central auditory nervous system, and this form of neuroplasticity can be investigated with CAEPs. Keywords: