The auditory system of the brain can be formed by exposure to various auditory environments, such as native language and musical training. A doctoral study conducted by Caitlin Dawson of the University of Helsinki focuses on interacting effects of native language patterns and musical experience on early auditory processing of basic sound characteristics. Methods included electrophysiological brainstem registration and a series of auditory discrimination tasks involving behavior. The auditory tasks were designed to find discrimination thresholds for intensity, frequency and duration. A self-assessment questionnaire on musical sophistication was also used in the analyses.

Dawson:

“We found that Finnish speakers showed an advantage in endurance processing in the brain stem compared to German speakers. The reason for this may be that the Finnish language includes long and short sounds that determine the meaning of words, which train the brains of the Finnish speakers.”

Finnish speakers and Mandarin

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