Dr Anna Fiveash

Overview

The brain processes music and language in remarkably similar ways. Dr Anna Fiveash is a cognitive psychologist whose research aims to better understand these similarities (and differences), and what they can tell us about the brain.

Her insights intothese complex forms of communication, and what they share, provide a better understanding of how the brain works and suggest new ways to improve language processing.

I think that music is a largely untapped resource that can improve people’s lives in many ways.

Dr Fiveash is particularly interested in the intriguing similarities between music and language for hierarchical structure building, rhythm, prediction, and memory.

She uses methods and insights from experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience, using software including Matlab, R, and Python for behavioural and electroencephalography analysis.

Impact

Dr Fiveash’s research into the similarities between language and music processing in the brain opens several avenues into using music to enhance and improve language-related skills, both in typically developing populations and populations with developmental speech and language disorders.

Music stimulation and training have been shown to enhance phonological awareness, speech segmentation, grammar, and reading skills, and are a valuable addition to speech therapy practice. The additional social and motivational aspects of music mean that music is an ideal and accessible tool to enhance language processing.

Further, impaired music rhythm processing has been identified as a risk factor for developing speech and language disorders, meaning that early screening could identify those at risk before the onset of language, allowing for early interventions and training.

More generally, Dr Fiveash’s work shows the extended value of music education and music appreciation, as music shares many of the same brain networks as language processing. As language abilities are fundamental to education, social cooperation, interpersonal communication, and other aspects of daily life, better understanding these connections can inform educational policy and short- and long-term music interventions.

Why it matters

Understanding the similarities and differences between music and language is important both for fundamental research, and also to investigate whether and how music training in the short- and long-term can enhance language skills.

For example, many individuals with developmental language disorders show impaired timing skills, related to impaired language processing. Better understanding connections between music and language will allow for the development of training programs using music to enhance timing skills and language processing.

​She is an advocate for the importance of music education and using music to enhance timing and language skills.

My research has the scope to influence government policies about music education in schools, and provide evidence for the benefits of music (rhythm) training in addition to speech therapy to improve language skills.

Career

Dr Fiveash is currently an ARC DECRA fellow at the MARCS Institute. Previously, she held two postdoctoral positions in the Auditory Cognition and Psychoacoustics team within the National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in Lyon, France, working with Professor Barbara Tillmann and Associate Professor Reyna Gordon.

She completed her PhD at Macquarie University in Sydney under the supervision of Professor Bill Thompson and Professor Genevieve McArthur. She completed her Master’s in Music, Mind, and Technology at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and her Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) at the Australian National University.

Key publications

• Fiveash, A., & Pammer, K. (2014). Music and language: Do they draw on similar syntactic working memory resources? Psychology of Music, 42(2), 190–209. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735612463949
• Fiveash A, Bedoin N, Gordon RL, Tillmann B. Processing rhythm in speech and music: Shared mechanisms and implications for developmental speech and language disorders. Neuropsychology. 2021 Nov;35(8):771-791. doi: 10.1037/neu0000766. Epub 2021 Aug 26. PMID: 34435803; PMCID: PMC8595576.
• Fiveash A, Schön D, Canette LH, Morillon B, Bedoin N, Tillmann B. A stimulus-brain coupling analysis of regular and irregular rhythms in adults with dyslexia and controls. Brain Cogn. 2020 Apr;140:105531. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2020.105531. Epub 2020 Jan 25. PMID: 31986324.
• Fiveash A, Bedoin N, Lalitte P, Tillmann B. Rhythmic priming of grammaticality judgments in children: Duration matters. J Exp Child Psychol. 2020 Sep;197:104885. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104885. Epub 2020 Jun 16. PMID: 32559634.
• Fiveash, A, Bella, SD, Bigand, E et al. You got rhythm, or more: The multidimensionality of rhythmic abilities. Atten Percept Psychophys 84, 1370–1392 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-022-02487-2

More information

• Podcast
• Interviews
• Online presentations

Collaboration

Dr Fiveash collaborates on projects to further our understanding of what happens in the brain when we listen to music and language.

She is open to further collaborations in the areas of arts sciences, health, speech therapy, music industry, education, and psychology.

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