Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception.
During cognitive tasks, older adults often show increased frontoparietal neural activity and functional connectivity. Cognitive reserve accrued from positive life choices like long-term musical training can provide additional neural resources to help cope with the effect of aging. However, the relat...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-07-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003247 |
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| author | Lei Zhang Bernhard Ross Yi Du Claude Alain |
| author_facet | Lei Zhang Bernhard Ross Yi Du Claude Alain |
| author_sort | Lei Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During cognitive tasks, older adults often show increased frontoparietal neural activity and functional connectivity. Cognitive reserve accrued from positive life choices like long-term musical training can provide additional neural resources to help cope with the effect of aging. However, the relationship between cognitive reserve and upregulated neural activity in older adults remains poorly understood. In this study, we measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a speech-in-noise task and assessed whether cognitive reserve accumulated from long-term musical training bolsters or holds back age-related increase in neural activity. Older musicians exhibited less upregulation of task-induced functional connectivity than older non-musicians in auditory dorsal regions, which predicted better behavioral performance in older musicians. Furthermore, older musicians demonstrated more youth-like spatial patterns of functional connectivity, as compared to older non-musicians. Our findings show that cognitive reserve accrued through long-term music training holds back age-related neural recruitment during speech-in-noise perception and enlighten the intricate interplay between cognitive reserve and age-related upregulated activity during cognitive tasks. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ba51624069414920b73cd64e188d7ed7 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-ba51624069414920b73cd64e188d7ed72025-08-20T03:13:35ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852025-07-01237e300324710.1371/journal.pbio.3003247Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception.Lei ZhangBernhard RossYi DuClaude AlainDuring cognitive tasks, older adults often show increased frontoparietal neural activity and functional connectivity. Cognitive reserve accrued from positive life choices like long-term musical training can provide additional neural resources to help cope with the effect of aging. However, the relationship between cognitive reserve and upregulated neural activity in older adults remains poorly understood. In this study, we measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging during a speech-in-noise task and assessed whether cognitive reserve accumulated from long-term musical training bolsters or holds back age-related increase in neural activity. Older musicians exhibited less upregulation of task-induced functional connectivity than older non-musicians in auditory dorsal regions, which predicted better behavioral performance in older musicians. Furthermore, older musicians demonstrated more youth-like spatial patterns of functional connectivity, as compared to older non-musicians. Our findings show that cognitive reserve accrued through long-term music training holds back age-related neural recruitment during speech-in-noise perception and enlighten the intricate interplay between cognitive reserve and age-related upregulated activity during cognitive tasks.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003247 |
| spellingShingle | Lei Zhang Bernhard Ross Yi Du Claude Alain Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception. PLoS Biology |
| title | Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception. |
| title_full | Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception. |
| title_fullStr | Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception. |
| title_short | Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception. |
| title_sort | long term musical training can protect against age related upregulation of neural activity in speech in noise perception |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003247 |
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