Transfer of Training between Music and Speech: Common Processing, Attention, and Memory

After a brief historical perspective of the relationship between language and music, we review our work on transfer of training from music to speech that aimed at testing the general hypothesis that musicians should be more sensitive than non-musicians to speech sounds. In light of recent results in the literature, we argue that when long-term experience in one domain influences acoustic processing in the other domain, results can be interpreted as common acoustic processing. But when long-term experience in one domain influences the building-up of abstract and specific percepts in another domain, results are taken as evidence for transfer of training effects. Moreover, we also discuss the influence of attention and working memory on transfer effects and we highlight the usefulness of the event-related potentials method to disentangle the different processes that unfold in the course of music and speech perception. Finally, we give an overview of an on-going longitudinal project with children aimed at testing transfer effects from music to different levels and aspects of speech processing

Music and Dyslexia: A New Musical Training Method to Improve Reading and Related Disorders

International audienceNumerous arguments in the recent neuroscientific literature support the use of musical training as a therapeutic tool among the arsenal already available to therapists and educators for treating children with dyslexia. In the present study, we tested the efficacy of a specially-designed Cognitivo-Musical Training (CMT) method based upon three principles: (1) music-language analogies: training dyslexics with music could contribute to improve brain circuits which are common to music and language processes; (2) the temporal and rhythmic features of music, which could exert a positive effect on the multiple dimensions of the " temporal deficit " characteristic of some types of dyslexia; and (3) cross-modal integration, based on converging evidence of impaired connectivity between brain regions in dyslexia and related disorders. Accordingly, we developed a series of musical exercises involving jointly and simultaneously sensory (visual, auditory, somatosensory) and motor systems, with special emphasis on rhythmic perception and production in addition to intensive training of various features of the musical auditory signal. Two separate studies were carried out, one in which dyslexic children received intensive musical exercises concentrated over 18 h during 3 consecutive days, and the other in which the 18 h of musical training were spread over 6 weeks. Both studies showed significant improvements in some untrained, linguistic and non-linguistic variables. The first one yielded significant improvement in categorical perception and auditory perception of temporal components of speech. The second study revealed additional improvements in auditory attention, phonological awareness (syllable fusion), reading abilities, and repetition of pseudo-words. Importantly, most improvements persisted after an untrained period of 6 weeks. These results provide new additional arguments for using music as part of systematic therapeutic and instructional practice for dyslexic children

Music Training Positively Influences the Preattentive Perception of Voice Onset Time in Children with Dyslexia: A Longitudinal Study

Previous results showed a positive influence of music training on linguistic abilities at both attentive and preattentive levels. Here, we investigate whether six months of active music training is more efficient than painting training to improve the preattentive processing of phonological parameters based on durations that are often impaired in children with developmental dyslexia (DD). Results were also compared to a control group of Typically Developing (TD) children matched on reading age. We used a Test-Training-Retest procedure and analysed the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and the N1 and N250 components of the Event-Related Potentials to syllables that differed in Voice Onset Time (VOT), vowel duration, and vowel frequency. Results were clear-cut in showing a normalization of the preattentive processing of VOT in children with DD after music training but not after painting training. They also revealed increased N250 amplitude to duration deviant stimuli in children with DD after music but not painting training, and no training effect on the preattentive processing of frequency. These findings are discussed in view of recent theories of dyslexia pointing to deficits in processing the temporal structure of speech. They clearly encourage the use of active music training for the rehabilitation of children with language impairments

Partial Purification and Characterization of the Mode of Action of Enterocin S37: A Bacteriocin Produced by Enterococcus faecalis S37 Isolated from Poultry Feces

The aim of this research was to purify and characterize the mode of action of enterocin S37, a bacteriocin produced by Enterococcus faecalis S37, a strain recently isolated from the chicken feces. Enterocin S37 has a molecular weight comprised between 4 and 5 kDa. It remained active after 1 h at 80oC and at pH values ranging from 4.0 to 9.0. Furthermore, cell-free supernatant of Enterococcus faecalis S37 and purified enterocin S37 were active against Gram-positive bacteria including Listeria monocytogenes EGDe, L. innocua F, Enterococcus faecalis JH2-2, and Lactobacillus brevis F145. The purification of enterocin S37 was performed by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed up by hydrophobic-interaction chromatography procedures. Treatment of enterocin S37 with proteinase K, α-chymotrypsin, and papain confirmed its proteinaceous nature, while its treatment with lysozyme and lipase resulted in no alteration of activity. Enterocin S37 is hydrophobic, anti-Listeria and likely acting by depletion of intracellular K+ ions upon action on KATP channels. This study contributed to gain more insights into the mode of action of enterocins

EFFECTS OF ORALLY ADMINISTERED ENTEROCOCCUS FAECIUM ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEMIC RESPONSE AND INTESTINAL EPITHELIAL STRUCTURE IN BALB/C MICE IMMUNIZED BY BOVINE Î’-LACTOGLOBULIN

Objective: Determine the effect of Enterococcus faecium on systemic immune response and its effect on the intestinal epithelial structure in the Balb/c mice. Methods: Thirty Balb/c mice were dispatched in three lots of 10 mice each. During an initial period of 18 days, the animals from the first lot received via an oral way suspension of 0,3 mL containing 108 ufc/mL of Enterococcus faecium,for the second and the third lot received 0,3 mL of a saline solution. In a second period of time, mice from the first and second lots were immunised via parenteral way using β-Lg. Then they were sacrified on the 50th day after the end of the first period (18 days). The level of IgG anti-β-Lg was determined in the sera by the ELISA, and histologic studies were conducted on the jejunum fragments. Results: Our results show that anti β-Lactoglobulin IgG titers were significantly reduced in immunized mice that received the Enterococcus faecium (1/280th) (***p<0,001). The histological studies of the intestinal epithelium shows long intestinal villi (53,88 ± 1,38µm) with diminished intra-epithelial lymphocytes. Conclusion: The study shows that Enterococcus faecium PC4.1 may help protect the intestinal epithelium integrity by maintaining the structure of the villi and has the ability to decrease the systemic immune response to β-lactoglobulin

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Azerbaijani traditional dairy products

Studied lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from two types of final ready-to-eat artisanal dairy products (cheeses-Agdas, Sheki and yogurts-Karabakh, Ganja and Baku) manufactured in Azerbaijan. The Agdas cheese belongs to the group of semi hard cheeses whilst the Sheki cheese belongs to hard cheeses. Both of cheeses were produced from cow's milk without the addition of the starter cultures. The Karabakh and Baku yogurts were produced from bovine's milk and the Ganja yogurt from buffalo's milk. Overall 378 isolates were collected from these dairy products and 296 of them were Gram-positive and catalase-negative. It was determined using biochemical tests and molecular methods that four species of LAB were mostly present in these cheeses: Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus paraplantarum and Enterococcus faecium while in yogurts, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and Enterococcus faecium dominated. Five enterococci were producers of antimicrobial compounds

EFFECT OF ENTEROCOCCUS DURANS BACTERIOCIN ON BACTERIAL WILT AGENT

Effect of a bacteriocin produced by Enterococcus durans A5-11 on growth of Ralstonia solanacearum strains and their ability to cause wilt in tomatoes was investigated. Among tested phytopathogenic strains, 33% were sensitive and inhibited as it was shown after spotting bacteriocin on Ralstonia lawns. Minimal inhibitory concentrations and sizes of lysis or inhibition zones varied depending on the strain used for study. The same differences were evidenced for the effect of the bacteriocin on Ralstonia in a liquid medium and when inoculating Lycopersicon esculentum Mill test plants. Treatment of plant roots with the bacteriocin of E. durans A5-11 simultaneously with inoculation with bacteria of a highly susceptible strain R. solanacearum 6189 resulted in diminished number of wilted tomatoes

Identification of a Protein with Antioxidant Activity that is Important for the Protection against Beer Ageing

This study was carried out with fresh Australian lager beer which was sampled directly off the production line, the same samples aged for 12 weeks at 30 °C, and the vintage beer which was kept at 20 °C for 5 years. Characteristic Australian lager flavour was maintained in the fresh and vintage beers but was lost in the aged beer. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and free thiol group labelling analyses of beer proteins found that this flavour stability correlated with the presence of an unknown 10 kilodaltons (kDa) protein with a higher level of free thiols. The protein was purified by size-exclusion chromatography, then peptide sequencing and database matching identified it as the barley lipid transfer protein (LTP1). Further characterisation using diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging and a Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based antioxidant screening assay demonstrated that the LTP1 protein was active in DPPH reduction and antioxidant activity. The absence of free thiol in the aged beer indicates that the thiol functional groups within the LTP1 protein were saturated and suggests that it is important in the flavour stability of beer by maintaining reduction capacity during the ageing process

Enhanced Syllable Discrimination Thresholds in Musicians

Speech processing inherently relies on the perception of specific, rapidly changing spectral and temporal acoustic features. Advanced acoustic perception is also integral to musical expertise, and accordingly several studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between musical training and superior processing of various aspects of speech. Speech and music appear to overlap in spectral and temporal features; however, it remains unclear which of these acoustic features, crucial for speech processing, are most closely associated with musical training. The present study examined the perceptual acuity of musicians to the acoustic components of speech necessary for intra-phonemic discrimination of synthetic syllables. We compared musicians and non-musicians on discrimination thresholds of three synthetic speech syllable continua that varied in their spectral and temporal discrimination demands, specifically voice onset time (VOT) and amplitude envelope cues in the temporal domain. Musicians demonstrated superior discrimination only for syllables that required resolution of temporal cues. Furthermore, performance on the temporal syllable continua positively correlated with the length and intensity of musical training. These findings support one potential mechanism by which musical training may selectively enhance speech perception, namely by reinforcing temporal acuity and/or perception of amplitude rise time, and implications for the translation of musical training to long-term linguistic abilities.Grammy FoundationWilliam F. Milton Fun