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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1638813

Differences in Structural Brain Morphometry Between Musicians and Non-Musicians

Provisionally accepted
  • 1Southwest University, Chongqing, China
  • 2University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
  • 3Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: Although music has been shown to affect brain function, the structural characteristics of the brain in musicians compared to non-musicians are often overlooked. This limited attention restricts the practical use of music's emotional, cognitive and motor functions. The current study aimed to investigate structural differences in the brains of musicians compared to non-musicians in order to better understand the neuroanatomical basis of musical training. Methods: Sixteen musicians and seventeen age-matched non-musicians underwent a brain structural neuroimaging scan. Group differences in structural morphometry were assessed. Results: Significant differences were found in cortical thickness, fractal dimensionality, gyrification and sulcal depth measures. Compared to non-musicians, musicians showed greater cortical thickness in the left superior frontal gyrus and right central parietal region, and showed structural advantages in fractal dimensionality and sulcal depth in the left fusiform gyrus and right central region. In contrast, non-musicians showed greater gyrification in the bilateral insula, right superior parietal lobule, and right supramarginal gyrus. Notably, significant interactive effects were observed between gender and cortical thickness, fractal dimensionality, gyrification, and sulcal depth in regions of the limbic system, including the hippocampus, cingulate gyrus, insula, fusiform gyrus, and precuneus. Conclusions: Structural differences in the frontal cortex, limbic system, and sensorimotor areas between musicians and non-musicians highlight the changes in brain structure associated with musical training. These findings provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of music-related brain function and may provide guidance for future applications of music to improve mental health and neuroplasticity.

Keywords: Structural brain morphometry, gender, musical training, musicians, non-musicians

Received: 03 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Hosseini and Hou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jiancheng Hou, bonjovi_hou@163.com

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