Music performance influences gene expression of professional musicians
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After a concert, professional musicians have a different expression of more than seventy genes. That is written by researchers of the University of Helsinki in an article, recently published in Nature Scientific Reports. Also, the authors identify several genes that are involved in song perception and production in songbirds. Mapping gene expression during music performance could shed more light on the molecular development of neurological diseases.
Musical performance is a complex cognitive function – it requires auditory and visual skills, attention, timing, motor control, learning, memory and emotion. Although music performance proves to have a positive influence on brain plasticity, up to now the molecular mechanisms behind this finding have been unclear.
Finnish researchers assessed the RNA expression profile in peripheral blood of ten professional musicians after a two-hour concert. This profile, the transcriptome, is the total RNA and can be used to assess gene expression at the time of measurement. This was compared to the RNA expression profile of ten musicians after spending two hours in a ‘music-free environment’. The researchers used peripheral blood, because it shares more than eighty percent of its transcriptome with that of the brain.
After analysis, 22 genes had a downregulated and 51 genes had an upregulated expression compared to the control group. These genes were involved in dopamine production, motor control, neuron growth and neurotransmission. Also, a number of these genes was identified in songbirds, in which they play a similar role. According to the authors, this indicates an evolutionary conserved system that is important in language and speech development.
In their research, the authors did not take into account the genetic effect of musical aptitude. Therefore, they propose future research into the transcriptome of professional, non-professional musicians and non-musicians. Nevertheless, the authors hold the view that their results are valuable for genetic research into language and speech development, the neurobiological background of emotions, neurological diseases and the effects of music therapy.
Source: Nature Scientific Reports
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