Name : Megavia Noor Iman

NRP : 0517040020
Class : K3-6A
Research Title : What you learn & when you learn it: Impact of early bilingual &
music experience on the structural characteristics of auditory-motor
pathways
Informative abstract
Abstract (Vaquero, 2020) Key Parts
Music and language engage the dorsal auditory pathway, Background
linked by the arcuate fasciculus (AF). Sustained practice in
these activities can modify brain structure, depending on
length of experience but also age of onset (AoO). To study the Purpose and aim
impact of early experience on brain structure we manually Methods
dissected the AF in bilinguals with and without music training
(MT) who differed in the AoO of their second language (L2),
or MT. We found the usual left-greater-than-right asymmetry Results
in the volume of the long segment (LS) of the AF across all
groups. However, simultaneous exposure to two languages
from birth enhanced this leftward asymmetry, while early
start of MT (7) enhanced the right LS macrostructure,
reducing the normative asymmetry. Thus, immersive
exposure to an L2 in the first year of life can produce long-
term plastic effects on the left LS, which is considered to be
largely under genetic control, while deliberate music training
in early childhood alters the right LS, whose structure appears
more open to experience. These findings show that AoO of Conclusions
specific experience plays a key role in a complex gene-
environment interaction model where normative brain
maturation is differentially impacted by diverse intensive
auditory-motor experiences at different points during
development.

In my opinion, this abstract is quite interesting because the background states that
the topics taken are music and language. Both are very interesting topics. The method
used is simple but also interesting, which is by observing the participants separated into
groups. However, the purpose and aim part has not stated the goal of this research
clearly, because it only says, “To study the impact of early experience of brain structure.”,
which is not the complete aim of this research according to the title and the contents. And I
think that the results and conclusions given are already in accordance with the contents
of the journal.