Compared to nonmusicians and amusics, musicians' thicker cortex, shown in the green, yellow, and red areas, contributes to performance. Focus 14-5 describes how playing music can affect sensorimotor maps in the cortex.

Research from P. Bermudez, J. P. Lerch, A. C. Evans, & R. J. Zatorre (2009). Neuroanatomical correlates of musicianship as revealed by cortical thickness and voxel-based morphometry. Cerebral Cortex, 7, 1583–1596.