Abstract:
Evoked potential studies have demonstrated that musicians have the ability to distinguish musical sounds preattentively and automatically
at the temporal, spectral, and spatial levels in more detail. It is however not known whether there is a diVerence in the early processes
of auditory data processing of musicians. The most emphasized and studied early process, especially for neuropsychiatric purposes,
is sensory gating. The suppression percentage of the midlatency auditory evoked potential P50, and rarely the N100, wave is used for sensory
gating studies. Our aim in this study was to investigate whether there was a diVerence in the auditory P50 and N100 suppression of
control subjects who were professional musicians with no psychiatric problems. 34 professional musicians and 19 non-musicians (the control
group) were included in this study. P50 and N100 measurements were taken, the suppression percentage of P50 and N100 was calculated
and the results compared. Musicians showed signiWcantly less P50 suppression when compared to non-musicians. There was no
signiWcant diVerence for N100 suppression. What the decreased P50 suppression in musicians when compared to non-musician subjects
means, when we also take into account that N100 suppression is not decreased, and how it may contribute to the music perception and
production processes of these persons is discussed.
