Experience-dependent plasticity in the auditory domain: effects of expertise and training on functional brain organization

Abstract

The present dissertation aims at systematically investigating manifestations of experience-dependent plasticity in the auditory domain, resulting from intensive musical training, utilizing analytical tools from network neuroscience. The dissertation is based on data acquired in the course of a longitudinal study investigating structural and functional changes in the auditory domain due to music training. A group of aspiring professional musicians, attending preparatory courses for entrance exams at universities of arts, and a group of amateur musicians, actively practicing in their everyday life, completed up to 5 behavioral and neuroimaging assessments in the course of one year. The dissertation consists of three studies addressing cross-sectional and longitudinal aspects of functional plastic differences and changes, respectively, ranging from a specific auditory process over unconstrained music listening to longitudinal changes in functional organization.