Conference proceedings

RSSA Conference: RSSA Conference: Deeper Sulci, Thicker Gyri, Dose Music Tune Brain Motor Regions?

1 King Abdulaziz University

Published: 05 May 2026

Abstract

The human brain has an exceptional capacity to reorganize neural pathways and alter cortical patterns in response to environmental context. Early intensive musical training has a significant impact on brain development. Beginning at a young age, musicians integrate multiple functions (e.g., auditory, motor, visual, and cognitive tasks) comprehensively during a musical performance, requiring the activation of multiple brain regions. In this study, I investigated the effect of musicianship on cortical thickness and sulcal depth in 15 musicians and 15 age-matched non-musicians. Image analysis was conducted using surface-based morphometry (SBM). The results indicate that musicians have increased cortical volume in multiple brain regions, including the motor and visual regions. These regions are part of the visual-motor coupling network, indicating that long-term practice may lead to GM adaptation in visual-motor-related regions, thereby enhancing spatial attention and senso-motor transformation.

Keywordsmusiciansmotorvisualsulcal depthcortical thicknesssurface-based morphometry (SBM)

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