Time for a little honesty, I quit piano lessons when I was a kid.
And my dad always said I would regret it.
Well dad, this me, admitting you’re right.
Science has known for a while that learning to play an instrument is good for kids.
Kids who take music lessons have higher grades and graduation rates than their non-musical
peers.
Some researchers even claim that it can boost IQ as well as academic performance.
A recent study from researchers at the University of Vermont College of Medicine added another
reason to the list of why I should not have quit piano lessons.
Learning an instrument can help grow the young and changing brain.
The study looked at brain scans of 232 kids ages 6-18 over a few years to see what playing
an instrument would do.
The researchers looked one region in particular, the cortex.
This part of the brain changes in thickness as kid’s brains grow.
This recent study found that the more a child practiced an instrument the faster their brains
organized and the faster their cortical lining thickened.
These physical changes in the brain led to important changes in the kids behavior.
They were better at paying attention, managing anxiety, and controlling their emotions and
impulses.
This isn’t the first study to toot the horn of musical training.
Previous studies show that learning an instrument boosts memory and grades.
Researchers from Northwestern University studied a group of kids from The Harmony Project,
a music education program in inner city LA.
Not only did the participants in the program do better in school, they had higher grades
and graduation rates, but the study showed that kids who play an instrument for two years
can distinguish the difference in sounds like Pill and Bill better than their non-musical
peers which develops important skills like communication and reading.
But the benefits aren’t just for kids, learning to play an instrument can create neurological
connections that can last a life time.
Playing an instrument involves many parts of the brain, visual and auditory regions,
motor control and even emotional processing centers are activated.
And this leads musicians to have better neuroplasticity, which means their brains are better at changing
and rewiring themselves over time and helps when old age brings a decline in cognitive
function.
But these cognitive benefits aren’t necessarily unique to musicians, really any kind of specialized
training can boost the brain in different ways.
Now the real question is, does this work for grown ups?
Could learning an instrument later in life confer the same benefits? because I could
seriously use a brain boost.
Most research indicates the strongest effects occur when learning takes place in childhood.
While there’s not a lot of research right now on how learning an instrument later in
life affects adult brains, one researcher from the University of Zurich says that adults
over the age of 65 who pick up an instrument had important changes in regions of the brain
that control hearing, coordination and memory.
Learning any skill at any age helps new neuron growth, so maybe there’s some hope for me.
To learn more about music, like where it came from or why it feels amazing, check out the
links here