The generalization of music training to unrelated nonmusical domains is well established and may reflect musicians’ superior ability to regulate attention. We investigated the temporal deployment of attention in musicians and nonmusicians using scalp-recording of event-related potentials in an attentional blink (AB) paradigm. Participants listened to rapid sequences of stimuli and identified target and probe sounds. The AB was defined as a probe identification deficit when the probe closely follows the target. The sequence of stimuli was preceded by a neutral or informative cue about the probe position within the sequence. Musicians outperformed nonmusicians in identifying the target and probe. In both groups, cueing improved target and probe identification and reduced the AB. The informative cue elicited a sustained potential, which was more prominent in musicians than nonmusicians over left temporal areas and yielded a larger N1 amplitude elicited by the target. The N1 was larger in musicians than nonmusicians, and its amplitude over the left frontocentral cortex of musicians correlated with accuracy. Together, these results reveal musicians’ superior ability to regulate attention, allowing them to prepare for incoming stimuli, thereby improving sound object identification. This capacity to manage attentional resources to optimize task performance may generalize to nonmusical activities.

中文翻译：

---

音乐家注意力的时间部署：来自注意力瞬脱范式的证据


将音乐训练推广到不相关的非音乐领域已经很成熟，并且可能反映了音乐家调节注意力的卓越能力。我们使用注意眨眼（AB）范式中事件相关电位的头皮记录来研究音乐家和非音乐家的注意力的时间部署。参与者聆听快速的刺激序列并识别目标和探测声音。 AB 被定义为当探测器紧密跟踪目标时的探测器识别缺陷。刺激序列之前是关于序列内探针位置的中性或信息提示。音乐家在识别目标和探测方面优于非音乐家。在两组中，提示改善了目标和探针识别并降低了 AB。信息提示引发了持续的潜力，这种潜力在音乐家的左颞区比非音乐家更为突出，并产生了由目标引起的更大的 N1 振幅。音乐家的 N1 比非音乐家更大，并且其在音乐家左额中央皮层上的幅度与准确性相关。总之，这些结果揭示了音乐家调节注意力的卓越能力，使他们能够为传入的刺激做好准备，从而提高声音对象识别能力。这种管理注意力资源以优化任务绩效的能力可以推广到非音乐活动。