A Study On Neural Plasticity Of Music Perception Ability

Music is a valid window way to investigate our human beings' high level cognitive abilities. So far as we know, we still not sure that the music perception ability has its own plasticity. According to the studies abroad, which compared the subjects with different music training levels, and the studies concerning different music perception neural modes at different consciousness levels, it is quite necessary to discuss whether, and to which extend different consciousness levels has its own effect, while investigating the effect of different music training levels. Therefore ERP technique was applied to study the brain reactions of music experts and ordinary ones to harmony/irregular chords at three different consciousness levels, with the purpose of investigating the plasticity of music perception ability, offering some suggestions for our music education and music talents' raise.Our study contained three sub experiments: First, we looked into the music perception neural mode under the un-attention condition, then pre-attention condition, and attention condition at last. It suggested that:1. Similar to the past studies, ERAN was also acquired when irregular chords was played to both music experts and ordinary persons, with the former swings larger than the latter ones, and the former delitescence earlier than the latter ones.2. N5 was also acquired in the same condition, and it reflected the conformity process of music perception. The swings of experts' N5 were lager than the ordinary ones, and delitescence earlier. It reflected the conformity of music expert better than ordinary persons. And experts paid more attentions to integer perception while listening to music.3. It also showed the position effect, that was irregular chords appeared at the third or fifth position, and the swings and the delitescence were quite different. It uncovered the different neural modes at different music perception phases.4. The two components had no significant differences with their swings at the three attention levels. It meant that these two ERP components could be acquired under non-attention condition, and music processing was automatic.In conclusion, the reactions of ordinary persons' perception to music meant the universality and implicity of human beings' music perception abilities, which could be bettered by training. And music experts could process music with a more fast and independent way, this fact suggested the plasticity of music perception ability. And this result could be helpful to our music education and music talents' raise.