Abstract: Executive function is a set of higher-order cognitive abilities that support goal-directed behavior, typically comprising three core components: inhibitory control, working memory updating, and cognitive flexibility. While executive function tends to decline in middle and older adulthood, improvisational activities may help slow this deterioration. Antiphonal singing, a traditional form of spontaneous lyric creation widely practiced in ethnic minority regions of China, emphasizes real-time generation and flexible response, potentially engaging multiple components of executive function. This study aimed to investigate whether experience in antiphonal singing enhances executive function in middle-aged and older adults and further explore the neural basis underlying these potential advantages. We hypothesized that individuals with such experience would perform better in inhibitory control, working memory updating, and cognitive flexibility.
Two groups of middle-aged and older adults were recruited: those with experience in antiphonal singing and those without. The average age across participants was approximately 58 years. In Study 1, 34 singers and 31 non-singers were included in the analysis; in Studies 2 and 3, both groups consisted of 32 participants. Three experiments were conducted: a Simon arrow task assessed inhibitory control, an n-back task assessed working memory updating, and a more-odd shifting task assessed cognitive flexibility. During task performance, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measured changes in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in key frontal, parietal, and temporal brain regions to assess behavioral performance and neural activation patterns.
Behavioral results across all three experiments showed that participants with antiphonal singing experience had superior executive function. In Study 1, fNIRS data revealed significantly lower activation in the singer group under conflict conditions in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, posterior parietal cortex, middle and superior temporal gyri, and somatosensory association cortex. In Study 2, higher activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, primary motor cortex, somatosensory association cortex, and posterior parietal cortex was observed in the singer group during the 2-back task (but not the 1-back task). In Study 3, during task-switching conditions, the singer group exhibited significantly higher activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, frontopolar area, premotor and primary motor cortices, posterior parietal cortex, and somatosensory association cortex.
This study is the first to systematically examine the influence of antiphonal singing experience on different components of executive function and their neural underpinnings. Results indicate that such experience significantly enhances executive function in middle-aged and older adults. These findings support the potential of improvisational language training as an intervention for cognitive aging, offering empirical evidence for culturally grounded cognitive enhancement programs. Moreover, the fNIRS data suggest that the observed cognitive improvements may reflect enhanced neural processing efficiency. These findings provide valuable insights for advancing cognitive training research and broaden the potential applications of improvisational practices in cognitive interventions, particularly culturally embedded forms of improvisation such as antiphonal singing.

Key words: executive function, antiphonal singing experience, improvisation, functional near-infrared spectroscopy