Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on August 19, 2009
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp177
The Brain of Opera Singers: Experience-Dependent Changes in Functional Activation
1 Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tuebingen, Germany, 2 Ospedale San Camillo, Instituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, 30126 Venezia, Italy, 3 Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, SE14 6NW London, UK, 4 Functional Imaging Unit; Center for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
Address correspondence to Boris Kleber, PhD, Institut für Medizinische Psychologie und Verhaltensneurobiologie, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Gartenstraße 29, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany. Email: boris.kleber{at}uni-tuebingen.de.
Several studies have shown that motor-skill training over extended time periods results in reorganization of neural networks and changes in brain morphology. Yet, little is known about training-induced adaptive changes in the vocal system, which is largely subserved by intrinsic reflex mechanisms. We investigated highly accomplished opera singers, conservatory level vocal students, and laymen during overt singing of an Italian aria in a neuroimaging experiment. We provide the first evidence that the training of vocal skills is accompanied by increased functional activation of bilateral primary somatosensory cortex representing articulators and larynx. Opera singers showed additional activation in right primary sensorimotor cortex. Further training-related activation comprised the inferior parietal lobe and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. At the subcortical level, expert singers showed increased activation in the basal ganglia, the thalamus, and the cerebellum. A regression analysis of functional activation with accumulated singing practice confirmed that vocal skills training correlates with increased activity of a cortical network for enhanced kinesthetic motor control and sensorimotor guidance together with increased involvement of implicit motor memory areas at the subcortical and cerebellar level. Our findings may have ramifications for both voice rehabilitation and deliberate practice of other implicit motor skills that require interoception.
Key Words: expertise • fMRI • functional reorganization • singing
Received for publication May 22, 2009. Revision received July 11, 2009. Accepted for publication July 13, 2009.