Augmented maturation of executive functions in musically trained children and adolescents

Musically trained individuals have been found to outperform untrained peers in various tasks specific to music performance. Interestingly, they have also been found to outperform their musically untrained peers in tasks not related to music-making, requiring a wide range of cognitive skills, such as executive functions. In a series of studies with the same participants, this thesis examines the developmental paths of different subcomponents of executive functions in a group of participants in their school years, from childhood until adolescence, while undergoing music training. Their neurocognitive development is compared with that of their musically untrained peers. The aim of the studies was to uncover whether music training is associated with improved executive functions and augmented functioning of the brain mechanisms of executive functions. Performance measures included various neuropsychological test measures and tasks created for neuroimaging experiments. Brain activation measures of executive functions were event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded with electroencephalography, and BOLD activation changes acquired with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Differences in these measures between musically trained and untrained participants aged 9-21 were examined, as well as longitudinal change in test performance during six years. The results of the studies showed that music training is associated with the enhancement of various executive functions: working memory maintenance, inhibition, set shifting, and selective attention during childhood and adolescence. However, the improvement in set shifting diminishes with age being virtually nonexistent in early adulthood. Results also showed more efficient functioning of neural mechanisms related to executive functions. Musically trained participants exhibited lower distractibility and enhanced processing of targets during tasks for executive functions. Furthermore, still in late adolescence and early adulthood, musically trained participants had more adult-like responses and more efficient functioning of brain mechanisms for attention and executive control during tasks for executive functions than their untrained peers. Together, the results show that music training is associated with enhancement of brain mechanisms of executive functions and a passing advantage in tasks for executive functions, with the largest differences compared to untrained peers seen in school-age and early adolescence. In late adolescence, the advantage in tasks has disappeared but echoes of enhancement can be still seen in the more mature and more efficient functioning of neural mechanisms of executive functions.Musiikkia harrastaneet suoriutuvat paremmin musiikkiin liittyvissä tehtävissä kuin ne, joilla musiikinharrastustaustaa ei ole. Yllättäen muusikot ja muut musiikin parissa harjaantuneet pärjäävät muuta harrastaneita paremmin myös sellaisissa tehtävissä, jotka eivät liity musiikkiin ja jotka edellyttävät laaja-alaisia kognitiivisia taitoja, kuten toiminnanohjausta. Tämä väitöskirja selvitti toiminnanohjauksen eri osa-alueiden kehityskaarta lapsuudesta varhaisaikuisuuteen sarjalla tutkimuksia, joihin osallistui sama musiikkia harrastavien lasten joukko. Näiden osallistujien neurokognitiivisten toimintojen kehittymistä verrattiin muuta harrastavien osallistujien kehitykseen. Tutkimusten tarkoitus oli selvittää, onko musiikin harrastaminen yhteydessä tehostuneisiin toiminnanohjauksen taitoihin, sekä muutoksiin näitä taitoja tukevien aivomekanismien toiminnassa. Taitoja tutkittiin neuropsykologisilla testimenetelmillä sekä aivokuvantamiskokeita varten erikseen kehitetyillä tehtävillä. Toiminnanohjauksen aivomekanismeja tutkittiin rekisteröimällä aivojen herätevasteita aivosähkökäyrällä, ja aivoalueiden veren happipitoisuudesta riippuvaa vastetta toiminnallisella magneettiresonanssikuvantamisella. Tutkimuksissa vertailtiin musiikkia harrastavien ja muuta harrastavien, 9-21-vuotiaiden osallistujien testisuoriutumisen ja aivojen toiminnan eroja. Lisäksi testisuoriutumisen erojen muutosta seurattiin kuuden vuoden ajan. Tutkimusten tulokset osoittavat, että musiikin harrastaminen on yhteydessä usean toiminnanohjauksen osa-alueen tehostumiseen lapsuudessa. Näihin kuuluivat työmuistin ylläpito ja päivittäminen, inhibitio, vaihtaminen ja valikoiva tarkkaavaisuus. Vaihtamisen tehostuminen vähenee kuitenkin iän myötä siten, että varhaisaikuisuudessa eroja musiikkia ja muuta harrastavien välillä ei testisuoriutumisessa ole. Tulosten mukaan musiikkia harrastavien toiminnanohjauksen aivomekanismit toimivat myös eri tavoin kuin muiden osallistujien. Toiminnanohjausta edellyttävissä tehtävissä musiikkia harrastavilla ilmeni vähäisempää häiriöherkkyyttä ja tehostunutta kohteiden käsittelyä. Lisäksi vielä varhaisaikuisuudessa musiikkia harrastavilla oli kehitysasteeltaan kypsempiä aivovasteita sekä tehokkaampaa toimintaa tarkkaavuuteen ja toiminnanohjaukseen liittyvillä aivoalueilla toiminnanohjauksen tehtävien aikana kuin muilla osallistujilla. Kaiken kaikkiaan tulokset osoittavat, että musiikin harrastaminen on yhteydessä toiminnanohjauksen aivomekanismien tehokkaampaan toimintaan sekä ohimenevästi myös parempaan suoriutumiseen toiminnanohjauksen tehtävissä

Neural correlates of enhanced executive functions : is less more?

Musical training has been associated with superior performance in various executive function tasks. To date, only a few neuroimaging studies have investigated the neural substrates of the supposed "musician advantage" in executive functions, precluding definite conclusions about its neural basis. Here, we provide a selective review of neuroimaging studies on plasticity and typical maturation of executive functions, with the aim of investigating how proficient performance in executive function tasks is reflected in brain activity. Specifically, we examine the evidence for the hypothesis that enhanced or mature executive functions are manifested as efficient use of neural systems supporting those functions. We also present preliminary results from a functional magnetic resonance imaging study suggesting-in line with this hypothesis-that musically trained adolescents recruit frontoparietal regions less strongly during executive functions tasks than untrained peers.Peer reviewe

Collaborative block design task for assessing pair performance in virtual reality and reality

Collaborative problem solving is more important than ever as the problems we try to solve become increasingly complex. Meanwhile, personal and professional communication has moved from face-to-face to computer-mediated environments, but there is little understanding on how the characteristics of these environments affect the quality of interaction and joint problem solving. To develop this understanding, methods are needed for measuring success of collaboration. For this purpose, we created a collaborative block design task intended to evaluate and quantify pair performance. In this task, participants need to share information to complete visuospatial puzzles. Two versions of the task are described: a physical version and one that can be completed in virtual reality. A preliminary study was conducted with the physical version (N = 18 pairs) and the results were used to develop the task for a second study in virtual reality (N = 31 pairs). Performance measures were developed for the task, and we found that pair performance was normally distributed and positively associated with visuospatial skills, but not with other participant-specific background factors. The task specifications are released for the research community to apply and adapt in the study of computer-mediated social interaction.Peer reviewe

Perceptions of Doctors’ Empathy and Patients’ Subjective Health Status at an Online Clinic : Development of an Empathic Anamnesis Questionnaire

Objective Medical doctors' empathy is known to support patients' health status after face-to-face clinical visits. However, the role of doctors' empathy in chat-based encounters is not yet well understood. This study investigates whether patients' evaluations of doctors' empathy are associated with their health perceptions after a meeting at an online clinic and whether experiences of empathy could be enhanced by augmenting an automated anamnesis questionnaire completed before the visit. Methods A total of 209 adult patients agreed to participate in the study. First 103 patients filled out the regular version of the questionnaire (June-August 2019) and then 106 filled out the augmented version of the online anamnesis questionnaire (August-November 2019). Patients' perceptions of doctors' empathy were measured with the Consultation and Relational Empathy questionnaire. Patients' self-perceived health status, potential confounders, and demographic background information were measured via questionnaires. Results Patients' perceptions of doctors' empathy during a chat-based encounter were associated with patients being less concerned about their symptoms (estimated odds ratios varied between 0.45 and 0.55 depending on the model, p values < .003) and considering their symptoms as less severe (estimated odds ratios = 0.54-0.61, p values < .007), as well as a higher probability of alleviation of symptoms as rated by the patients (estimated odds ratios = 2.16-2.24, p values < .001). Augmenting the anamnesis questionnaire did not affect patient reports on doctors' overall empathy, but it did have positive effects on specific areas of doctors' empathy covered by the questionnaire. Conclusions These results show that patients' experience of doctors' empathy not only is important during face-to-face encounters but also supports patients' perceptions of health when the interaction is text based. The results also encourage further development of means to support patients' experiences of empathy during online interaction with medical doctors.Peer reviewe

Are you there? : Presence in collaborative distance work

doi linkki ei toimi 31.1.2022, ilmoitettu lehteen/USAlready before the pandemic, digitally mediated collaborative work and communication were perceived as challenging. We investigate the attitudes towards emerging technologies and for transforming practises in workplaces. The focus lies on understanding the readiness for appropriating emotional tracking on presence and support for collaboration. The research-based design framework allowed to combine the various perspectives of the transdisciplinary team. Methods included participatory design, design thinking, contextual inquiry and prototype testing for enhancing presence while working with shared objects in video conferencing to explore the appropriation of tools. The findings revealed four indications: 1) awareness of interlocutors’ presence during synchronous communication is crucial. 2) Emotion and behaviour tracking raises concerns about privacy and personal control over what is displayed to others, and technology could be simpler non-distracting the work at hand. 3) The prototype was found to enhance the feeling of presence without disturbing work at hand, and 4) appropriation requires a step-by-step approach.Peer reviewe

Faster maturation of selective attention in musically trained children and adolescents: Converging behavioral and event-related potential evidence

Previous work suggests that musical training in childhood is associated with enhanced executive functions. However, it is unknown whether this advantage extends to selective attention-another central aspect of executive control. We recorded a well-established event-related potential (ERP) marker of distraction, the P3a, during an audio-visual task to investigate the maturation of selective attention in musically trained children and adolescents aged 10-17 years and a control group of untrained peers. The task required categorization of visual stimuli, while a sequence of standard sounds and distracting novel sounds were presented in the background. The music group outperformed the control group in the categorization task and the younger children in the music group showed a smaller P3a to the distracting novel sounds than their peers in the control group. Also, a negative response elicited by the novel sounds in the N1/MMN time range (similar to 150-200 ms) was smaller in the music group. These results indicate that the music group was less easily distracted by the task-irrelevant sound stimulation and gated the neural processing of the novel sounds more efficiently than the control group. Furthermore, we replicated our previous finding that, relative to the control group, the musically trained children and adolescents performed faster in standardized tests for inhibition and set shifting. These results provide novel converging behavioral and electrophysiological evidence from a cross-modal paradigm for accelerated maturation of selective attention in musically trained children and adolescents and corroborate the association between musical training and enhanced inhibition and set shifting

Inter-brain synchronization occurs without physical co-presence during cooperative online gaming

Inter-brain synchronization during social interaction has been linked with several positive phenomena, including closeness, cooperation, prosociality, and team performance. However, the temporal dynamics of inter-brain synchronization during collaboration are not yet fully understood. Furthermore, with collaboration increasingly happening online, the dependence of inter-brain phase synchronization of oscillatory activity on physical presence is an important but understudied question. In this study, physically isolated participants performed a collaborative coordination task in the form of a cooperative multiplayer game. We measured EEG from 42 subjects working together as pairs in the task. During the measurement, the only interaction between the participants happened through on-screen movement of a racing car, controlled by button presses of both participants working with distinct roles, either controlling the speed or the direction of the car. Pairs working together in the task were found to have elevated neural coupling in the alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands, compared to performance matched false pairs. Higher gamma synchrony was associated with better momentary performance within dyads and higher alpha synchrony was associated with better mean performance across dyads. These results are in line with previous findings of increased inter-brain synchrony during interaction, and show that phase synchronization of oscillatory activity occurs during online real-time joint coordination without any physical co-presence or video and audio connection. Synchrony decreased during a playing session, but was found to be higher during the second session compared to the first. The novel paradigm, developed for the measurement of real-time collaborative performance, demonstrates that changes in inter-brain EEG phase synchrony can be observed continuously during interaction.Peer reviewe

Inter-brain synchronization occurs without physical co-presence during cooperative online gaming

Inter-brain synchronization during social interaction has been linked with several positive phenomena, including closeness, cooperation, prosociality, and team performance. However, the temporal dynamics of inter-brain synchronization during collaboration are not yet fully understood. Furthermore, with collaboration increasingly happening online, the dependence of inter-brain phase synchronization of oscillatory activity on physical presence is an important but understudied question. In this study, physically isolated participants performed a collaborative coordination task in the form of a cooperative multiplayer game. We measured EEG from 42 subjects working together as pairs in the task. During the measurement, the only interaction between the participants happened through on-screen movement of a racing car, controlled by button presses of both participants working with distinct roles, either controlling the speed or the direction of the car. Pairs working together in the task were found to have elevated neural coupling in the alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands, compared to performance matched false pairs. Higher gamma synchrony was associated with better momentary performance within dyads and higher alpha synchrony was associated with better mean performance across dyads. These results are in line with previous findings of increased inter-brain synchrony during interaction, and show that phase synchronization of oscillatory activity occurs during online real-time joint coordination without any physical co-presence or video and audio connection. Synchrony decreased during a playing session, but was found to be higher during the second session compared to the first. The novel paradigm, developed for the measurement of real-time collaborative performance, demonstrates that changes in inter-brain EEG phase synchrony can be observed continuously during interaction

Fecal microbiota in congenital chloride diarrhea and inflammatory bowel disease

Background and aimsSubjects with congenital chloride diarrhea (CLD; a defect in solute carrier family 26 member 3 (SLC26A3)) are prone to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We investigated fecal microbiota in CLD and CLD-associated IBD. We also tested whether microbiota is modulated by supplementation with the short-chain fatty acid butyrate.Subjects and methodsWe recruited 30 patients with CLD for an observational 3-week follow-up study. Thereafter, 16 consented to oral butyrate substitution for a 3-week observational period. Fecal samples, collected once a week, were assayed for calprotectin and potential markers of inflammation, and studied by 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene amplicon sequencing and compared to that of 19 healthy controls and 43 controls with Crohn's disease. Data on intestinal symptoms, diet and quality of life were collected.ResultsPatients with CLD had increased abundances of Proteobacteria, Veillonella, and Prevotella, and lower abundances of normally dominant taxa Ruminococcaceae and Lachnospiraceae when compared with healthy controls and Crohn's disease. No major differences in fecal microbiota were found between CLD and CLD-associated IBD (including two with yet untreated IBD). Butyrate was poorly tolerated and showed no major effects on fecal microbiota or biomarkers in CLD.ConclusionsFecal microbiota in CLD is different from that of healthy subjects or Crohn's disease. Unexpectedly, no changes in the microbiota or fecal markers characterized CLD-associated IBD, an entity with high frequency among patients with CLD.Peer reviewe

Selectively Enhanced Development of Working Memory in Musically Trained Children and Adolescents

In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the development of working memory in musically trained and nontrained children and adolescents, aged 9–20. We measured working memory with the Digit Span (DS) forwards and backwards tests (N = 106) and the Trail-Making A and B (TMT-A and B; N = 104) tests three times, in 2011, 2013, and 2016. We expected that musically trained participants would outperform peers with no musical training. Indeed, we found that the younger musically trained participants, in particular, outperformed their nontrained peers in the TMT-A, TMT-B and DS forwards tests. These tests all primarily require active maintenance of a rule in memory or immediate recall. In contrast, we found no group differences in the backwards test that requires manipulation and updating of information in working memory. These results suggest that musical training is more strongly associated with heightened working memory capacity and maintenance than enhanced working memory updating, especially in late childhood and early adolescence.Peer reviewe