A combined monthly precipitation prediction method based on CEEMD and improved LSTM.

With the continuous decline of water resources due to population growth and rapid economic development, precipitation prediction plays an important role in the rational allocation of global water resources. To address the non-linearity and non-stationarity of monthly precipitation, a combined prediction method based on complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) and a modified long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network was proposed. Firstly, the CEEMD method was used to decompose the monthly precipitation series into a set of relatively stationary sub-sequence components, which can better reflect the local characteristics of the sequence and further understand the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of the sequence. Then, improved LSTM neural networks were employed to predict each sub-sequence. The proposed improvement method optimized the hyper-parameters of LSTM neural networks using particle swarm optimization algorithm, which avoided the randomness of artificial parameter selection. Finally, the predicted results of each component were superimposed to obtain the final prediction result. The proposed method was validated by taking the monthly precipitation data from 1961 to 2020 in Changde City, Hunan Province as an example. The results of the case study show that, compared with other traditional prediction methods, the proposed method can better reflect the trend of precipitation changes and has higher prediction accuracy.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with In Vitro-Cultivated Arboreal Medicinal Mushrooms on Long-Term Memory and Anxiety-Like Behavior of Male Mice.

Health-promoting effects of medicinal mushrooms have been postulated for centuries in folk medicine in Asia and Europe and are currently being verified by scientific research. Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus, HE) is an arboreal medicinal mushroom that has been shown to improve short-term memory of healthy mice, and to modulate stress-coping strategies of rodents. HE shares bioactive compounds with other arboreal medicinal mushrooms such as the pink oyster mushroom (Pleurotus djamor, PDJ) and agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis, FO), but their effects in vivo have not been investigated. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of dietary supplementation with HE, FO, or PDJ on long-term memory, anxiety-like behavior, and hippocampal gene expression of healthy male mice. CD-1 mice were fed with either control or mushroom-supplemented (2 mg/g of dry chow) diets for 40 days and underwent object novelty recognition and elevated plus maze tests before hippocampi collection. Only HE-supplemented animals displayed long-term memory (one sample t-test against chance level of novelty preference ratio). Supplementation had no effect on anxiety-like behavior, but its effect on the frequency of arm visits of the elevated plus maze apparatus was modulated by the amount of ingested food - an effect that was absent in control animals. We also observed that mice with higher weight gain had lower expression of Gsk3ß and Mtor in their hippocampi. We discuss the relevance of these results for rodent behavioral studies of dietary mushroom supplementation.

Standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba treatment and novelty on the weak encoding of spatial recognition memory in rats.

Long-term memory (LTM) formation is dependent on neurochemical changes that guarantee that a recently formed memory (short-term memory [STM]) remains in the specific neural circuitry via the consolidation process. The persistence of recognition memory has been evidenced by using behavioral tagging in young adult rats, but it has not been effective on aging. Here, we investigated the effects of treatment with a standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb) associated with novelty on the consolidation of object location memory (OLM) and its persistence after weak training of spatial object preference in young adult and aged rats. The object location task used in this study included two habituation sessions, training sessions associated or not associated with EGb treatment and contextual novelty, and short-term or long-term retention testing sessions. Altogether, our data showed that treatment with EGb associated with novelty close to the time of encoding resulted in STM that lasted for 1 h and persisted for 24 h for both young adult and aged rats. In aged rats, the cooperative mechanisms induced robust long-term OLM. Our findings support and extend our knowledge about recognition memory in aged rats and the modulating effects of EGb treatment and contextual novelty on the persistence of memory.

Anteromedial thalamus gates the selection and stabilization of long-term memories.

Memories initially formed in hippocampus gradually stabilize to cortex over weeks-to-months for long-term storage. The mechanistic details of this brain re-organization remain poorly understood. We recorded bulk neural activity in circuits that link hippocampus and cortex as mice performed a memory-guided virtual-reality task over weeks. We identified a prominent and sustained neural correlate of memory in anterior thalamus, whose inhibition substantially disrupted memory consolidation. More strikingly, gain amplification enhanced consolidation of otherwise unconsolidated memories. To gain mechanistic insights, we developed a technology for simultaneous cellular-resolution imaging of hippocampus, thalamus, and cortex throughout consolidation. We found that whereas hippocampus equally encodes multiple memories, the anteromedial thalamus preferentially encodes salient memories, and gradually increases correlations with cortex to facilitate tuning and synchronization of cortical ensembles. We thus identify a thalamo-cortical circuit that gates memory consolidation and propose a mechanism suitable for the selection and stabilization of hippocampal memories into longer-term cortical storage.

An analysis of crude oil prices in the last decade (2011-2020): With deep learning approach.

Crude Oil is one of the most important commodities in this world. We have studied the effects of Crude Oil inventories on crude oil prices over the last ten years (2011 to 2020). We tried to figure out how the Crude Oil price variance responds to inventory announcements. We then introduced several other financial instruments to study the relation of these instruments with Crude Oil variation. To undertake this task, we took the help of several mathematical tools including machine learning tools such as Long Short Term Memory(LSTM) methods, etc. The previous researches in this area primarily focussed on statistical methods such as GARCH (1,1) etc. (Bu (2014)). Various researches on the price of crude oil have been undertaken with the help of LSTM. But the variation of crude oil price has not yet been studied. In this research, we studied the variance of crude oil prices with the help of LSTM. This research will be beneficial for the options traders who would like to get benefit from the variance of the underlying instrument.

Enhanced declarative memory in long-term mindfulness practitioners.

OBJECTIVES: Mindfulness meditation (MM) practice is considered to benefit physical and mental health. In particular, several studies have shown a beneficial effect of MM practice on memory performance. However, it is still not clear how long-term training affects long-term declarative memory. In this study we aimed to examine whether long-term MM training impacts declarative memory formation for diverse memoranda types, as well as the role of trait mindfulness, and the possible mediating role of anxiety. METHODS: We examined long-term memory performance in 23 experienced MM practitioners and 22 meditation-naïve age-matched individuals, by administering a variety of declarative memory tests, ranging from item recognition to narrative and autobiographical memory recollection and future projection. The participants also filled the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). RESULTS: Compared to the control group, long-term MM practitioners exhibited heightened memory performance for the picture recognition test and experienced enhanced vividness during autobiographic memory retrieval and future simulations. We also report a significant trait mindfulness and memory performance correlation, stemming exclusively from the Mm group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings extend previous reports of the beneficial effect of a short-term MM training on memory performance, by showing the beneficial effect of long-term training on declarative memory. We also provide initial evidence that trait mindfulness is positively correlated with declarative memory performance, as a function of MM practice, and discuss these findings in light of the role of self-mode and cognitive diffusion, as well as attention and emotion.

The Effects of Mindfulness Interventions on Older Adults' Cognition: A Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of mindfulness interventions on cognitive tasks in healthy older adults and older adults with diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. METHODS: Three-level meta-analysis and systematic review of 30 published randomized-controlled trials. RESULTS: Mindfulness interventions provided a small, yet significant positive effect on cognition compared to a control group (average weighted Hedges' g = 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.06-0.65]). Attention (g = 0.22, 95% CI = [0.09, 0.35]), long-term memory (g = 0.32, 95% CI = [0.08, 0.56]), and visuospatial processing (g = 0.22, 95% CI = [0.10, 0.34]) all showed significantly meaningful changes regardless of cognitive status of the participants. There was no evidence for publication bias. Healthy older adults showed higher effect sizes than those with MCI (g = 0.27, 95% CI = [0.11, 0.43], vs. (g = -0.09, 95% CI = [-0.35, 0.17], respectively). Otherwise, there were no significant moderating effects of age, marital status, education, region, intervention type, length, number of sessions, adherence, or gender on effect size. Moderator analyses within cognitive domains suggest that focused attention practices might be the best for improving cognition. Lastly, meditation interventions seem to work as effectively as other mind-body interventions, but not as effectively as other interventions to improve cognitive functioning in older adults. DISCUSSION: Mindfulness interventions appear to be a useful tool for improving cognitive functioning in older adults.

A Deep Learning Framework Based on Dynamic Channel Selection for Early Classification of Left and Right Hand Motor Imagery Tasks.

Ideal brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) need to be efficient and accurate, demanding for classifiers that can work across subjects while providing high classification accu-racy results from recordings with short duration. To address this problem, we present a new deep learning framework for discriminating motor imagery (MI) tasks from electroen-cephalography (EEG) signals. The framework consists of a 1D convolutional neural network-long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM), combined with a dynamic channel selection approach based on Davies-Bouldin index (DBI). Using data from BCI competition IV-IIa data, the proposed framework reports an average classification accuracy of 70.17% and 76.18% when using only 800 ms and 1500 ms of the EEG data after the task onset, respectively. The proposed framework dynamically balances individual differences, achieves comparable or better performance compared to existing work, while using short duration of EEG.

Recognition Method of Massage Techniques Based on Attention Mechanism and Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network.

Identifying the massage techniques of the masseuse is a prerequisite for guiding robotic massage. It is difficult to recognize multiple consecutive massage maps with a time series for current human action recognition algorithms. To solve the problem, a method combining a convolutional neural network, long-term neural network, and attention mechanism is proposed to identify the massage techniques in this paper. First, the pressure distribution massage map is collected by a massage glove, and the data are enhanced by the conditional variational auto-encoder. Then, the features of the massage map group in the spatial domain and timing domain are extracted through the convolutional neural network and the long- and short-term memory neural network, respectively. The attention mechanism is introduced into the neural network, giving each massage map a different weight value to enhance the network extraction of data features. Finally, the massage haptic dataset is collected by a massage data acquisition system. The experimental results show that a classification accuracy of 100% is achieved. The results demonstrate that the proposed method could identify sequential massage maps, improve the network overfitting phenomenon, and enhance the network generalization ability effectively.

Anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant extract improves long-term memory impairment and emotional abnormality in senescence-accelerated mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with a progressive worsening in cognitive function, which is often accompanied by emotional disturbance. Recent studies revealed that anthocyanin-rich blackcurrant extract (BCE) can impart health benefits, but it is not known whether BCE is useful in the prevention and/or treatment of AD. Here, we examined the effects of BCE using a senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) model. Dietary BCE supplementation for 9 weeks was found to both improve the diminished long-term recognition memory and normalize the anxiety levels of SAMP8 mice. RNA sequencing demonstrated that dietary supplementation with anthocyanin-rich BCE significantly altered the gene expression profile in the hippocampus. According to enrichment analysis, genes regulated by BCE were related to cellular component terms such as "smooth endoplasmic reticulum," "axon," and "glutamatergic synapse." Real-time PCR verified alterations in the expression of AD-related genes. These findings indicate that anthocyanin-rich BCE may be valuable for the prevention and/or treatment of AD. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Blackcurrant contains an abundance of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. This study demonstrated that anthocyanin-rich BCE improves the long-term recognition memory impairment and emotional abnormality of SAMP8 mice, a mouse model characterized by several pathological features of AD. These findings indicate that anthocyanin-rich BCE may be a useful food supplement or ingredient for the prevention of AD.

High precision reconstruction of silicon photonics chaos with stacked CNN-LSTM neural networks.

Silicon-based optical chaos has many advantages, such as compatibility with complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integration processes, ultra-small size, and high bandwidth. Generally, it is challenging to reconstruct chaos accurately because of its initial sensitivity and high complexity. Here, a stacked convolutional neural network (CNN)-long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network model is proposed to reconstruct optical chaos with high accuracy. Our network model combines the advantages of both CNN and LSTM modules. Further, a theoretical model of integrated silicon photonics micro-cavity is introduced to generate chaotic time series for use in chaotic reconstruction experiments. Accordingly, we reconstructed the one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional chaos. The experimental results show that our model outperforms the LSTM, gated recurrent unit (GRU), and CNN models in terms of MSE, MAE, and R-squared metrics. For example, the proposed model has the best value of this metric, with a maximum improvement of 83.29% and 49.66%. Furthermore, 1D, 2D, and 3D chaos were all significantly improved with the reconstruction tasks.

Trimethoxyflavones from Ocimum basilicum L. leaves improve long term memory in mice by modulating multiple pathways.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Traditionally, Ocimum basilicum L. leaves (OB) are recommended for various brain disorders. AIM OF THE STUDY: Scientific evidence highlights the cognition improvement capacity of Ocimum basilicum L. leave extract (OBE), however, the compound(s) responsible for this effect and the associated mechanism was not reported. The present study was, thus, designed to isolate and identify the compound responsible for memory improvement effects of OB and to delineate the associated mechanism of action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In-vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory (Ellman method) and antioxidant (DPPH scavenging) assays guided fractionation was employed to isolate the bioactive compounds from OBE. The isolated compounds were characterised using spectroscopic techniques (FTIR, NMR and MS). In-silico and in-vivo [mouse model of scopolamine (SCOP) induced amnesia] investigations were used to substantiate the memory improvement effects of isolated compounds and to understand their mechanism of action. RESULTS: AChE and DPPH assays guided fractionation of OBE lead to isolation of two pure compounds namely, 5,7-dihydroxy-3',4',5'-trimethoxyflavone (S1) and 3-hydroxy-3',4',5'-trimethoxyflavone (S2). Both S1 and S2 mitigated the cognitive impairment due to SCOP in mice by reducing brain AChE activity, TBARS, TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and caspase-3 concentrations and elevating reduced glutathione and IL-10 levels; together with amelioration of brain hippocampus histopathological aberration (H and E staining). Moreover, the molecular docking of S1 and S2 at the active pockets of AChE and caspase-3 has shown good interactions with vital amino acid residues. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that trimethoxy flavones are responsible for the memory improvement effect of OBE due to their anticholinergic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties. These maybe developed as valuable alternatives for management of cognitive disorders.

Spontaneous mental replay of music improves memory for incidentally associated event knowledge.

Why is music effective at evoking memories from one's past? Familiar music is a potent cue that can trigger, often involuntarily, the recollection of associated autobiographical memories. The mechanisms by which associations between music and nonmusical knowledge initially form and consolidate into long-term memory have not been elucidated. In three experiments, we linked two common musical phenomena, involuntary musical imagery (INMI; commonly called "earworms") and music-evoked remembering, in testing the hypothesis that such imagery aids in the consolidation of memory for events with which music becomes associated. We manipulated the probability of experiencing INMI for novel music loops by first exposing participants to these loops during tasks that varied in attentional and sensorimotor demands. Then, 1 week later, these loops served as soundtracks for unfamiliar movies. Immediately after movie viewing, and at subsequent delays of 1-4 weeks, participants recalled movie details, using the soundtracks as retrieval cues. The amount of INMI across the delay periods predicted both the accuracy of the memory for the music itself and the amount of recalled movie knowledge at the temporal granularity of the 30-s epochs during which individual loops played. We conclude that the replay of musical sequence memories during episodes of INMI serves as a consolidation mechanism both for the music and for associated episodic information. We thus demonstrate that spontaneous internally cued memory reactivation is a naturally occurring memory process that improves retention of real-world event knowledge. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Dissociated Role of Thalamic and Cortical Input to the Lateral Amygdala for Consolidation of Long-Term Fear Memory.

Post-encoding coordinated reactivation of memory traces distributed throughout interconnected brain regions is thought to be critical for consolidation of memories. However, little is known about the role of neural circuit pathways during post-learning periods for consolidation of memories. To investigate this question, we optogenetically silenced the inputs from both auditory cortex and thalamus in the lateral amygdala (LA) for 15 min immediately following auditory fear conditioning (FC) and examined its effect on fear memory formation in mice of both sexes. Optogenetic inhibition of both inputs disrupted long-term fear memory formation tested 24 h after FC. This effect was specific such that the same inhibition did not affect short-term memory and context-dependent memory. Moreover, long-term memory was intact if the inputs were inhibited at much later time points after FC (3 h or 1 d after FC), indicating that optical inhibition for 15 min itself does not produce any nonspecific deleterious effect on fear memory retrieval. Selective inhibition of thalamic input was sufficient to impair consolidation of auditory fear memory. In contrast, selective inhibition of cortical input disrupted remote fear memory without affecting recent memory. These results reveal a dissociated role of thalamic and cortical input to the LA during early post-learning periods for consolidation of long-term fear memory.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Coordinated communications between brain regions are thought to be essential during post-learning periods for consolidation of memories. However, the role of specific neural circuit pathways in this process has been scarcely explored. Using a precise optogenetic inhibition of auditory input pathways, either thalamic or cortical or both, to the LA during post-training periods, we here show that thalamic input is required for consolidation of both recent and remote fear memory, whereas cortical input is crucial for consolidation of remote fear memory. These results reveal a dissociated role of auditory input pathways to the LA for consolidation of long-term fear memory.

Valerian treatment during the postpartum period alters breast milk composition and impairs long-term memory in female rat offspring.

Maternal anxiety symptoms in the perinatal period might have long-term health effects on both the mother and the developing child. Valerian is a phytotherapeutic agent that is widely used for the treatment of anxiety. This study investigated the effects of valerian treatment in postpartum rats on maternal care, toxicity, and milk composition. Postnatal development, memory, and anxiety behavior in the offspring were also assessed. Postpartum Wistar rats received the valerian (500, 1000, or 2000 mg·kg-1·day-1) by oral gavage. Clinical and biochemical toxicity was evaluated with commercial kits. Maternal behavior was observed daily. Milk composition was analyzed by colorimetric methods. Physical and neuromotor tests were used to analyze postnatal development. Anxiolytic activity was assessed by the elevated plus maze, and memory was evaluated by the step-down inhibitory avoidance task. Maternal toxicity and care behavior were not altered by the treatment, while only the highest dose promoted a significant increase of lactose, and the doses 1000 and 2000 mg·kg-1·day-1 promoted a reduction of protein contents in milk. Postnatal development was similar in all offspring. Adult offspring did not display altered anxiety behavior, while long-term memory was impaired in the female adult offspring by maternal treatment with 1000 mg·kg-1·day-1. These results suggested that high doses of valerian had significant effects on important maternal milk components and can cause long-term alterations of offspring memory; thus, treatment with high doses of valerian is not safe for breastfeeding Wistar rat mothers.

Neurofeedback training improves episodic and semantic long-term memory performance.

Understanding and improving memory are vital to enhance human life. Theta rhythm is associated with memory consolidation and coding, but the trainability and effects on long-term memory of theta rhythm are unknown. This study investigated the ability to improve long-term memory using a neurofeedback (NFB) technique reflecting the theta/low-beta power ratio on an electroencephalogram (EEG). Our study consisted of three stages. First, the long-term memory of participants was measured. In the second stage, the participants in the NFB group received 3 days of theta/low-beta NFB training. In the third stage, the long-term memory was measured again. The NFB group had better episodic and semantic long-term memory than the control group and significant differences in brain activity between episodic and semantic memory during the recall tests were revealed. These findings suggest that it is possible to improve episodic and semantic long-term memory abilities through theta/low-beta NFB training.

Disengagement of Motor Cortex during Long-Term Learning Tracks the Performance Level of Learned Movements.

Not all movements require the motor cortex for execution. Intriguingly, dependence on motor cortex of a given movement is not fixed, but instead can dynamically change over the course of long-term learning. For instance, rodent forelimb movements that initially require motor cortex can become independent of the motor cortex after an extended period of training. However, it remains unclear whether long-term neural changes rendering the motor cortex dispensable are a simple function of the training length. To address this issue, we trained mice (both male and female) to perform two distinct forelimb movements, forward versus downward reaches with a joystick, concomitantly over several weeks, and then compared the involvement of the motor cortex between the two movements. Most mice achieved different levels of motor performance between the two movements after long-term training. Of the two movements, the one that achieved higher trial-to-trial consistency (i.e., consistent-direction movement) was significantly less affected by inactivation of motor cortex than the other (i.e., variable-direction movement). Two-photon calcium imaging of motor cortical neurons revealed that the consistent-direction movement activates fewer neurons, producing weaker and less consistent population activity than the variable-direction movement. Together, the motor cortex was less engaged and less necessary for learned movements that achieved higher levels of consistency. Thus, the long-term reorganization of neural circuits that frees the motor cortex from the learned movement is not a mere function of training length. Rather, this reorganization tracks the level of motor performance that the animal achieves during training.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Long-term training of a movement reshapes motor circuits, disengaging motor cortex potentially for automatized execution of the learned movement. Acquiring new motor skills often involves learning of multiple movements (e.g., forehand and backhand strokes when learning tennis), but different movements do not always improve at the same time nor reach the same level of proficiency. Here we showed that the involvement of motor cortex after long-term training differs between similar yet distinct movements that reached different levels of expertise. Motor cortex was less engaged and less necessary for the more proficient movement. Thus, disengagement of motor cortex is not a simple function of training time, but instead tracks the level of expertise of a learned movement.

A thalamo-amygdalar circuit underlying the extinction of remote fear memories.

Fear and trauma generate some of the longest-lived memories. Despite the corresponding need to understand how such memories can be attenuated, the underlying brain circuits remain unknown. Here, combining viral tracing, neuronal activity mapping, fiber photometry, chemogenetic and closed-loop optogenetic manipulations in mice, we show that the extinction of remote (30-day-old) fear memories depends on thalamic nucleus reuniens (NRe) inputs to the basolateral amygdala (BLA). We found that remote, but not recent (1-day-old), fear extinction activates NRe-to-BLA inputs, which become potentiated upon fear reduction. Furthermore, both monosynaptic NRe-to-BLA and total NRe activity increase shortly before freezing cessation, suggesting that the NRe registers and transmits safety signals to the BLA. Accordingly, pan-NRe and pathway-specific NRe-to-BLA inhibition impairs, whereas their activation facilitates, remote fear extinction. These findings identify the NRe as a crucial BLA regulator for extinction and provide the first functional description of the circuits underlying the attenuation of consolidated fear memories.

Brd4 participates in epigenetic regulation of the extinction of remote auditory fear memory.

BACKGROUND: Inaccurate fear memories can be maladaptive and potentially portrait a core symptomatic dimension of fear adaptive disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is generally characterized by an intense and enduring memory for the traumatic events. Evidence exists in support of epigenetic regulation of fear behavior. Brd4, a member of the bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) protein family, serves as a chromatin "reader" by binding to histones in acetylated lysine residues, and hence promotes transcriptional activities. However, less is known whether Brd4 participates in modulating cognitive activities especially memory formation and extinction. Here we provide evidence for a role of Brd4 in modulation of auditory fear memory. Auditory fear conditioning resulted in a biphasic Brd4 activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hippocampus of adult mice. Thus, Brd4 phosphorylation occurred 6 h and 3-14 days, respectively, after auditory fear conditioning. Systemic inhibition of Brd4 with a BET inhibitor, JQ1, impaired the extinction of remote (i.e., 14 days after conditioning) fear memory. Further, conditional Brd4 knockout in excitatory neurons of the forebrain impaired remote fear extinction as observed in the JQ1-treated mice. Herein, we identified that Brd4 is essential for extinction of remote fear in rodents. These results thus indicate that Brd4 potentially plays a role in the pathogenesis of PTSD.

Evidence for Enhanced Long-term Memory in Professional Musicians and Its Contribution to Novel Word Learning.

Previous studies evidenced transfer effects from professional music training to novel word learning. However, it is unclear whether such an advantage is driven by cascading, bottom-up effects from better auditory perception to semantic processing or by top-down influences from cognitive functions on perception. Moreover, the long-term effects of novel word learning remain an open issue. To address these questions, we used a word learning design, with four different sets of novel words, and we neutralized the potential perceptive and associative learning advantages in musicians. Under such conditions, we did not observe any advantage in musicians on the day of learning (Day 1 [D1]), at neither a behavioral nor an electrophysiological level; this suggests that the previously reported advantages in musicians are likely to be related to bottom-up processes. Nevertheless, 1 month later (Day 30 [D30]) and for all types of novel words, the error increase from D1 to D30 was lower in musicians compared to nonmusicians. In addition, for the set of words that were perceptually difficult to discriminate, only musicians showed typical N400 effects over parietal sites on D30. These results demonstrate that music training improved long-term memory and that transfer effects from music training to word learning (i.e., semantic levels of speech processing) benefit from reinforced (long-term) memory functions. Finally, these findings highlight the positive impact of music training on the acquisition of foreign languages.