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The OPERA hypothesis: assumptions and clarifications
Author(s) -
Patel Aniruddh D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06426.x
Subject(s) - opera , musical , perception , psychology , computer science , cognitive science , cognitive psychology , encoding (memory) , speech recognition , art , neuroscience , visual arts
Recent research suggests that musical training enhances the neural encoding of speech. Why would musical training have this effect? The OPERA hypothesis proposes an answer on the basis of the idea that musical training demands greater precision in certain aspects of auditory processing than does ordinary speech perception. This paper presents two assumptions underlying this idea, as well as two clarifications, and suggests directions for future research.