Music literacy improves reading skills via bilateral orthographic development.

Considerable evidence suggests that musical education induces structural and functional neuroplasticity in the brain. This study aimed to explore the potential impact of such changes on word-reading proficiency. We investigated whether musical training promotes the development of uncharted orthographic regions in the right hemisphere leading to better reading abilities. A total of 60 healthy, right-handed culturally matched professional musicians and controls took part in this research. They were categorised as normo-typical readers based on their reading speed (syl/sec) and subdivided into two groups of relatively good and poor readers. High density EEG/ERPs were recorded while participants engaged in a note or letter detection task. Musicians were more fluent in word, non-word and text reading tests, and faster in detecting both notes and words. They also exhibited greater N170 and P300 responses, and target-non target differences for words than controls. Similarly, good readers showed larger N170 and P300 responses than poor readers. Increased reading skills were associated to a bilateral activation of the occipito/temporal cortex, during music and word reading. Source reconstruction also showed a reduced activation of the left fusiform gyrus, and of areas devoted to attentional/ocular shifting in poor vs. good readers, and in controls vs. musicians. Data suggest that music literacy acquired early in time can shape reading circuits by promoting the specialization of a right-sided reading area, whose activity was here associated with enhanced reading proficiency. In conclusion, music literacy induces measurable neuroplastic changes in the left and right OT cortex responsible for improved word reading ability.

Risk Factors for Atrial Fibrillation in the Dog: A Systematic Review.

Different risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) development have been identified in numerous studies on humans, but this information is less clearly available on the dog. The aim of this systematic review is to determine the risk factors for AF in the dog. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we conducted a comprehensive search using the Web of Science and Scopus databases for articles reporting on cases of spontaneously occurring AF in dogs. The level of evidence was assessed using the Evidence Quality Grading System of the National Institute of Health. One thousand forty-three studies were initially identified, and twenty of them were included in this systematic review involving 2,359,275 dogs, of which 4807 showed spontaneously occurring AF. Genetics, for the Irish Wolfhound, increased body weight, and left atrial enlargement were the main risk factors for the development of AF in dogs with different cardiac diseases, particularly myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, some differences were found between these two cardiac diseases regarding additional risk factors. In particular, the presence of congestive heart failure and echocardiographic evidence of increased left atrial pressure or the presence of right atrial enlargement emerged as risk factors in dogs with MMVD or DCM, respectively. Furthermore, significant differences in risk factors were observed between dogs and humans. In particular, advanced age and male sex are not reliable indicators of an increased risk of AF in dogs.