Different mental rotation performance in students of music, sport and education

In this study the effect of long-term physical and musical activity on spatial cognitive performance, measured by mental rotation performance, is investigated in detail. Mental rotation performance is the ability to rotate a three-dimensional object using the imagination. Three groups, each consisting of 40 students, and divided by the subjects, music, sports, and education, solved a psychometrical mental rotation task with three-dimensional block figures. The results showed a better mental rotation performance for music and sports students compared to the education students. Furthermore, the well known gender difference favoring males was found for both sports and education students but not for music students.