Different pattern of auditory processing lateralization in musicians and non-musicians

Abstract

The aim of the study was an evaluation of different pattern of auditory processing lateralization in musicians and non-musicians. 41 people aged 20-46 participated in the experiment, from which two research groups were selected: musicians ‒ instrumentalists professionally active (N: 21) and non-musicians (N: 20). All of them were right-handed. The dichotic listening test (Kurkowski 2007) was used to assess the laterality of external stimuli. The examination showed the superiority of right-ear perception or binaural speech processing. In the study of non-focused attention, musicians achieved a similar rate of correct responses for the left and right ear, which indicates binaural processing, where they gave more correct responses for the left ear and fewer correct responses for the right ear than non-musicians. The difference between the groups is statistically significant. In the study focused on the right ear, both groups obtained similar high scores. In the left-ear study the musicians gave more correct responses from the perception of stimuli to the left ear than non-musicians. This research confirmed different pattern of auditory processing lateralization in musicians and non-musicians.