Using diffusion tensor imaging, we investigated effects of piano practicing in childhood,
adolescence and adulthood on white matter, and found positive correlations between
practicing and fiber tract organization in different regions for each age period. For childhood,
practicing correlations were extensive and included the pyramidal tract, which was more
structured in pianists than in non-musicians. Long-term training within critical developmental
periods may thus induce regionally specific plasticity in myelinating tracts.