From Mad in Sweden: A new study published in Science Advances shows that people who engage in musical training are significantly better at directing and maintaining their attention when several sounds compete for hearing. The result provides a new understanding of how musicality shapes the brain’s top-directed focus – and how it simultaneously makes us less susceptible to disturbances.
To listen in noise: one of the brain’s most difficult tasks
Distinguishing a voice or melody when several sounds are heard simultaneously is one of the most demanding things the brain can do. To study this, the researchers developed a method that combines precision measurement of the brain’s response to different sounds with machine learning – which makes it possible to “see” which melodies the brain directs its attention to.
