Brain’s neural connectivity shapes musical-rhythm sense

Non-musicians could process rhythm as well as trained musicians, the study found

A sense of rhythm, integral to musicianship, may be as highly developed even in those with minimal or no training in music and may in large part be due to dense neural connections in specific regions of the brain, says a study by scientists at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar, and Symbiosis International, Pune. How much of musical ability is inherent, the extent to which it is influenced by training and the regions of the brain that are most activated while perceiving musical elements such as rhythm and pitch are vibrant areas of research. Studies have shown, for instance, that at least 15 months of musical training in early childhood led to long-term changes in the brain’s structure that diverged from typical brain development. Other studies have shown that the brain’s neuroanatomy plays a significant role, and yet others have even linked certain genes. For instance the gene (GATA2) that regulates the development of cochlear hair cells and the structures that mediate sound perception in the auditory pathway have been associated with individual differences in music processing and perception.