Increased surface area of Heschl’s gyrus following music-cued motor training

Previous work found that adding musical cues to a four-week, left-handed, visuomotor sequence training task increased white matter connectivity between contralateral auditory and motor regions. In this study, grey matter measures are investigated by examining changes in cortical auditory and motor regions, specifically the superior and transverse temporal gyri, precentral gyrus, and paracentral lobule. Thirty healthy young adults trained on left-handed finger sequences over four weeks, either with visual cues only (Control group) or with added musical cues (Music group). Participants underwent MRI and behavioral assessments pre- and post-training. Results revealed evidence of a time-group-hemisphere interaction, showing increased surface area of the contralateral, right Heschl’s gyrus in the Music group only, after training. Additional exploratory analyses revealed that behavioral performance was associated with surface area decreases in cortical motor areas in the Music group only, but these results did not survive multiple comparison correction. The results demonstrate auditory-specific neuroplastic changes related to adding musical cues to short-term visuomotor training in a controlled setting, furthering our understanding of patterns of neuroplasticity related to music-based movement, with implications for cued movement paradigms in health settings.