'The Neurobiology of Music Cognition and Learning' (Bruhn & Rauscher)

I. Music Cognition and Learning
a. Behaviorism (including classical and operant conditioning; mind as an unobservable ‘black box’)
b. Cognitive psychology
i. Constructivism; Piaget
ii. MENTAL REPRESENTATION
c. Sociohistorical Theory
i. Vygotsky (zone of proximal development)
d. Connectionism
i. Focuses research on the microstructure of cognition
ii. Uses EEG, EMG, MRI, CT and PET technologies to view the assess the active brain
iii. ‘Learning describes the tracing of paths and connections in [a] neural network’
II. Neurobiological foundations of cognition and learning
a. ‘Cognition can be seen as the result of a pattern-matching process by which mental representation are activated though perceived stimuli. The term mental representation covers a broad array of meanings and is often used synonymously with mental modes… scripts… frames… schemas… or neural networks.’
b. ‘Neurons of a particular brain area represent different features’
c. ‘Single cortical neurons with similar “interests” tend to be vertically arrayed in cortical columns like thin cylinders’
d. ‘What we perceive as music originates from distributed processing but combines into one conscious feature that forms a robust mental representation’ (p. 448)
e. ‘Neuronal plasticity is crucial for the neurobiology of learning…’ (p. 448)
f. ‘There are regional differences in the synaptogenesis in human brains. Huttenlocher… compared the development in two cortical areas: the auditory and prefrontal cortex. He found that synaptic density increase more rapidly in the auditory cortex (maximum at age 3 months) than in middle frontal gyrus (peak after age 15 months)’ (p. 448)
g. ‘The discovery of an inverted U shaped structure in brain development is confirmed by the development of glucose metabolism. Cerebral glucose consumption rises from birth until about 4 years of age, maintains from 4 until about 9-10 years, and then gradually declines (Chugani, 1998). These findings have important implications for our understanding of brain plasticity and critical periods for learning.’ (p. 448)
h. [page 448 is good overview for entire chapter]
III. Neurobiological research on music and learning
a. Overview
i. ‘M. H. Johnson (1998) has identified four factors… important to any understanding of the neurobiology of music learning and cognition’ (p.450)
1. ‘There are neural structures in the brain that are common to both humans and other mammals… Differences between humans and other animals primarily concern the extent of the cerebral cortex. Subcortical structures, such as the hippocampus and cerebellum, are structurally similar across mammalian species’
2. ‘The cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum continue to develop throughout childhood’
3. ‘Different areas of the cerebral cortex develop at different rates’
4. ‘Studies on cortical plasticity suggest that cortical specialization is heavily influenced by experience’
IV. Brain research on music cognition and learning
a. Processes need to be understood instead of just the roles of certain structures in the brain, as we have gained with imaging studies
b. Transfer effects (i.e. “The Mozart Effect”) – research findings are tentative at best, and Gardner views music as a separate intelligence
c. However ‘the importance of studying the transfer of musical learning to spatial learning [as exhibited in “The Mozart Effect”] becomes evident when one considers the overall significance of spatial abilities to cognitive function. High levels of spatial ability have frequently been linked to creativity, not only in the arts but in science and mathematics as well.’ (p. 454)
V. Music learning by individuals with brain disorders
a. Alzheimer’s, Down’s, Williams all have musically interesting features
b. Cochlear implants
VI. Applications to music education
a. ‘Results from brain research and neurobiological findings alone can hardly lead to immediate applications and recommendations for music education. These data cannot be directly transferred to educational practice because scientific descriptions are essentially different from educational prescriptions’ (p. 455)
b. The chapter concludes with 6 points of tentative conclusions (p. 456), which summarizes the chapter well.