Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians
Interoception is defined as the perceptual activity involved in the processing of internal bodily signals. While the ability of internal perception is considered a relatively stable trait, recent data suggest that learning to integrate multisensory information can modulate it. Making music is a uniq...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-12-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00349/full |
| _version_ | 1818942894349746176 |
|---|---|
| author | Katharina eSchirmer-Mokwa Pouyan Rafiei Fard Anna Maria Zamorano Sebastian eFinkel Niels eBirbaumer Niels eBirbaumer Boris Alexander Kleber |
| author_facet | Katharina eSchirmer-Mokwa Pouyan Rafiei Fard Anna Maria Zamorano Sebastian eFinkel Niels eBirbaumer Niels eBirbaumer Boris Alexander Kleber |
| author_sort | Katharina eSchirmer-Mokwa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Interoception is defined as the perceptual activity involved in the processing of internal bodily signals. While the ability of internal perception is considered a relatively stable trait, recent data suggest that learning to integrate multisensory information can modulate it. Making music is a uniquely rich multisensory experience that has shown to alter motor, sensory, and multimodal representations in the brain of musicians. We hypothesize that musical training also heightens interoceptive accuracy comparable to other perceptual modalities. Thirteen professional singers, twelve string players, and thirteen matched non-musicians were examined using a well-established heartbeat discrimination paradigm complemented by self-reported dispositional traits. Results revealed that both groups of musicians displayed higher interoceptive accuracy than non-musicians, whereas no differences were found between singers and string-players. Regression analyses showed that accumulated musical practice explained about 49% variation in heartbeat perception accuracy in singers but not in string-players. Psychometric data yielded a number of psychologically plausible inter-correlations in musicians related to performance anxiety. However, dispositional traits were not a confounding factor on heartbeat discrimination accuracy. Together, these data provide first evidence indicating that professional musicians show enhanced interoceptive accuracy compared to non-musicians. We argue that musical training largely accounted for this effect. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:18:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c95af94a57544583bc592485cfcff65c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T07:18:41Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-c95af94a57544583bc592485cfcff65c2022-12-21T19:48:44ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532015-12-01910.3389/fnbeh.2015.00349151870Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musiciansKatharina eSchirmer-Mokwa0Pouyan Rafiei Fard1Anna Maria Zamorano2Sebastian eFinkel3Niels eBirbaumer4Niels eBirbaumer5Boris Alexander Kleber6University of TübingenTechnical University of DresdenUniversity of Balearic IslandsUniversity of TübingenUniversity of TübingenOspedale San CamilloUniversity of TübingenInteroception is defined as the perceptual activity involved in the processing of internal bodily signals. While the ability of internal perception is considered a relatively stable trait, recent data suggest that learning to integrate multisensory information can modulate it. Making music is a uniquely rich multisensory experience that has shown to alter motor, sensory, and multimodal representations in the brain of musicians. We hypothesize that musical training also heightens interoceptive accuracy comparable to other perceptual modalities. Thirteen professional singers, twelve string players, and thirteen matched non-musicians were examined using a well-established heartbeat discrimination paradigm complemented by self-reported dispositional traits. Results revealed that both groups of musicians displayed higher interoceptive accuracy than non-musicians, whereas no differences were found between singers and string-players. Regression analyses showed that accumulated musical practice explained about 49% variation in heartbeat perception accuracy in singers but not in string-players. Psychometric data yielded a number of psychologically plausible inter-correlations in musicians related to performance anxiety. However, dispositional traits were not a confounding factor on heartbeat discrimination accuracy. Together, these data provide first evidence indicating that professional musicians show enhanced interoceptive accuracy compared to non-musicians. We argue that musical training largely accounted for this effect.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00349/fullmusiciansinsulainteroceptionmultisensory integrationheartbeat perception |
| spellingShingle | Katharina eSchirmer-Mokwa Pouyan Rafiei Fard Anna Maria Zamorano Sebastian eFinkel Niels eBirbaumer Niels eBirbaumer Boris Alexander Kleber Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience musicians insula interoception multisensory integration heartbeat perception |
| title | Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians |
| title_full | Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians |
| title_short | Evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians |
| title_sort | evidence for enhanced interoceptive accuracy in professional musicians |
| topic | musicians insula interoception multisensory integration heartbeat perception |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00349/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT katharinaeschirmermokwa evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians AT pouyanrafieifard evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians AT annamariazamorano evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians AT sebastianefinkel evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians AT nielsebirbaumer evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians AT nielsebirbaumer evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians AT borisalexanderkleber evidenceforenhancedinteroceptiveaccuracyinprofessionalmusicians |