"Music and the Plastic Brain. How Sounds can Generate Neuroplastic Adaptations"

This mini-review is about music and the plastic brain. It sketches some recent developments in music and brain studies with a shift from initial localization and morphometric studies to the study of connections and networks in the brain. A major finding is the realization that learning to play an instrument appeals to almost all higher functions of the brain. Special attention is also paid to the plastic changes that result from continuous and sustained musical engagement. These changes can be demonstrated on two scales of evolution—the phylogenetic and ontogenetic scale—, with structural and functional adaptations that manifest themselves both in the short and long term.