Nisha KV, Durai R, Konadath S. Musical Training and Its Association With Age-Related Changes in Binaural, Temporal, and Spatial Processing.
Am J Audiol 2022;
31:669-683. [PMID:
35772171 DOI:
10.1044/2022_aja-21-00227]
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE
This article aimed to assess the relationship between musical training and age-related changes in binaural, temporal, and spatial processing abilities.
DESIGN
A standard group comparison study was conducted involving both musicians and nonmusicians. The effect of musical training was assessed using a battery of psychoacoustical tests (interaural time and level difference thresholds: ITD & ILD, binaural gap detection threshold, and virtual auditory space identification test) and subjective ratings (Spatial-Hearing subsection of Speech, Spatial, and Quality of Hearing scale in Kannada).
STUDY SAMPLE
A total of 60 participants, between 41 and 70 years, were divided into three groups of 20 each, based on their age (41-50, 51-60, and 61-70 years). Each of these three groups was subdivided into two, one comprising 10 musicians (vocalists practicing South-Indian classical music) and the other comprising 10 nonmusicians.
RESULTS
Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that musicians performed significantly better (p < .001) than nonmusicians in all the tests. Analyses of variance showed that whereas age had no effect (p > .05) on performance in any of the tests in musicians, age affected the performance of nonmusicians significantly in terms of ITD (p = .02) and ILD (p = .01) thresholds.
CONCLUSION
Musical training appears to have the potential to slow down age-related decline in binaural, temporal, and spatial processing.
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