(PCM) Music lessons may provide more than just beautiful (or not so beautiful) music to the ear; lessons early on in life may have lasting benefits on the brain!
Researchers from Auditory Neuroscience Lab at Northwestern University studied 45 young adults and found that those with at least one year of childhood musical training had enhanced neurological responses to sound, a trait linked to improved learning and listening abilities.
Lead author Nina Kraus says:
“There’s good evidence that playing a musical instrument can profoundly affect the nervous system, but most of the studies have looked at people who are still playing. This is the first study, to my knowledge, to look at the more typical scenario of people taking music lessons as kids.”
“We know from previous studies that if you have a robust response to sound, you’re generally a better learner,” said Kraus. “You’re better able to hear conversations in noisy places, your reading ability tends to be better and your auditory memory also seems to benefit. Those skills are important.To me — and this is just my scientific opinion based on converging evidence — those are dollars well spent.”
“Certainly the hypothesis to be tested now is whether these experiences in childhood continue to have a mark on the nervous system throughout people’s lives.”
Bottom line: Children’s music lessons, whether you love them or hate them, are worth it!
Photograph: Murdo Macleod
