Efthymios Papatzikis
Canadian University Dubai, UAE
Title: Music in the early years neurocognitive development: Discussing an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) study and its applications
Biography
Biography: Efthymios Papatzikis
Abstract
Around the globe, we all the more see the intentional usage of music and sound to increasingly expand as a ‘tool’ of biopsychological research in the context of the prenatal and postnatal (perinatal) medicine practice and education. Investigations focusing on the early years of life have clearly shown that there are functional specializations for sound processing in the human brain, while it has been established that the brainstem, being a crucial part of the auditory system, is hugely affected sound-wise by the environment and care practices very early in life. However, not much research has directly addressed this correlation that may exist between music and the brainstem’s neuronal growth; in function and structure. We do not really know how the brainstem’s maturation process progresses in the first months of life, through sound and most of all music, thus affecting the later adult brain function and the whole life-span disorders. How is this specific part of the subcortical brain region, which is closely connected to sound perception and decoding, influenced by this very powerful neuroplastic force that music imposes on its neuronal circuits? This presentation, having a twofold approach in mind, will first communicate the latest research evidence on the sound and music brain perception field in the early stages of life, while later will showcase a relevant research protocol, discussing details on this kind of research as of its procedures and possible outcomes.