Alcuni studi specifici, confortati dall’evoluzione delle tecniche di neuro imaging, dimostrano come la musica e la musicalità siano in grado di indurre neuroplasticità strutturali e funzionali nel cervello. Ciò consente di arricchire le prospettive del mondo della pedagogia e della riabilitazione con uno sguardo orientato all’utilizzo dell’esperienza musicale in diversi ambiti. Alcune difficoltà nella lettoscrittura, per esempio, possono avvalersi di un approccio musicoterapeutico per agevolare la persona nell’evoluzione funzionale, orientata alla decodifica del testo e alla formazione di competenze specifiche, adeguate alle fasi dell’apprendimento.
Un recente studio, condotto da Alice Mado Proverbio, docente presso l’università degli studi di Milano Bicocca, ed un gruppo di ricerca formato da Marta Pantaleo, Giulia, Arcuri, Mirella Manfredi, operativi presso Cognitive Electrophysiology lab, Dept. of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, Psychologisches Institut, University of Zurich, Switzerland, Neuro MI, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy, ha dimostrato come, effettivamente, la cognizione musicale sia in grado di agevolare i processi di comprensione del testo, velocizzandone i tempi e contenendo eventuali criticità. In tal modo, è possibile e auspicabile inserire la cognizione musicale nella progettazione di interventi mirati ad agevolare i processi di apprendimento formale, sia in presenza di difficoltà soggettive che necessitino di specifiche strategie curative di intervento, che nella pianificazione di buone prassi educative.
Renato Pantaleo
A seguire, l’abstract dello studio in oggetto:
There is considerable evidence that musical education induces structural and functional neuroplasticity in the brain. This study aimed to explore the potential impact of such changes on word-reading proficiency. Specifically, we investigated whether musical training promotes the development of uncharted orthographic regions in the right hemisphere leading to better reading abilities. A total of 60 healthy, right-handed professional musicians and controls took part in this research. All participants were university students who shared a similar cultural background. They were categorized as normo-typical readers based on their reading fluency for words (syl/sec) and then subdivided into two groups of relatively good and poor readers. During a note or letter recognition task, high-density EEG/ERPs were recorded. Musicians exhibited greater fluency in reading words, non-words and text, and were quicker in detecting both notes and words. Additionally, musicians exhibited greater N170 and P300 responses, as well as target-non-target variations, when presented with words compared to the control group. The results were consistent with those of the good readers, who also displayed greater N170 and P300 responses compared to the poor readers. Reading fluency and target sensitivity correlated with bilateral activation of the occipito/temporal (OT) cortex, specifically the right OT cortex, while reading music and words. Additionally, source reconstruction indicated decreased activation in the left Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) and attention/orientation-shifting areas (BA8) in poor readers compared to good readers, as well as in controls compared to musicians. The data suggests that musical literacy acquired prior to the age of roughly 8-10 years has the potential to shape reading circuitry through promoting specialisation of the right reading area (VNFA), the activity of which has been linked to improvements in reading ability. To summarise, musical literacy can result in measurable neuroplastic changes in the left and right OT cortex, which positively impact word reading ability.