Enhanced Contour-Deviant Mismatch Negativity and Mnemonic Representations in Older Musicians

Instrumental music performance is associated with enhanced perceptual processing as evidenced by auditory discrimination and speech-in-noise perception. However, little is known about the extent to which auditory perceptual processes support cognition in aging. We investigated whether music training enhances perceptual precision in 26 older amateur and professional musicians (62-85 years, 16 females) and 25 older nonmusicians (61-82 years, 13 females). Participants completed a novel auditory mnemonic discrimination paradigm while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. The mismatch negativity (MMN), an event-related potential of change detection, was measured during a passive auditory oddball paradigm with standard and deviant pure-tone sequences differing in pitch contour. Participants subsequently completed an incidental memory test for oddball stimuli (i.e., targets) among similar lure sequences (matched for frequency but differing in contour) and dissimilar foil sequences (differing in frequency and contour), as well as a back-to-back perceptual discrimination task. Musicians showed enhanced amplitudes, left-lateralized MMN source activity, and increased memory discriminability for targets relative to lures and foils, effects that were not explained by perceptual discrimination ability or MMN amplitude. No group differences were found in neural or behavioral measures on a mnemonic discrimination task involving everyday visual objects. Our results clarify the role of music training on precision in perception and auditory memory in older musicians compared with nonmusicians. Our findings underscore the contribution of musical engagement to perception and memory to the development of cognitive reserve in aging.