MRIs Show that Piano Tuners’ Brains Adapt to Specialized Form of Listening

Tuning a piano also tunes the brain, according to researchers who have seen structural changes within the brains of professional piano tuners. Investigators at University College London and Newcastle University have discovered that listening to two notes played simultaneously makes the brain adapt. Brain scans revealed highly specific changes in the hippocampus, which governs memory and navigation. These correlated with the number of years piano tuners had been doing the job.

The Wellcome Trust (a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health) researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to compare the brains of 19 professional piano tuners who played two notes at the same time in order to make them pitch-perfect, in addition to 19 other subjects. For more information, click here to read the full article.