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Health See other Health Articles Title: Childhood music lessons boost adulthood cognitive skills Learning music lessons in childhood can provide brain benefits later in life, as it boosts brain response to speech sounds, new research has suggested. The study unveils that playing a musical instrument during childhood leaves benefits in brain that lasts long even into adult life, according to the findings published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research scientists monitored the brains of 44 people in their 50s, 60s and 70s at the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University in Illinois, US. The participants had to listen to a synthesized speech syllable, "da", while researchers measured electrical activity in the spot of the brain that is responsible for processing sound information known as the auditory brainstem. The observation unraveled that though none of the volunteers had music practice for nearly 40 years, their brain responses were totally different. Those who had music training between four and 14 years early in life showed a faster response to the speech sound than those ones who never had music lessons. Experts suggest “musical training particularly with an emphasis on rhythmic skills can exercise the auditory-system.” “As people grow older, they often experience changes in the brain that compromise hearing. For instance, the brains of older adults show a slower response to fast-changing sounds, which is important for interpreting speech,” researchers clarified. "Being a millisecond faster may not seem like much, but the brain is very sensitive to timing and a millisecond compounded over millions of neurons can make a real difference in the lives of older adults," said Michael Kilgard from the University of Texas, who was not involved with the research. An earlier study conducted by scientists from Concordia University and the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University also revealed the positive effects of music practice on the brain. The study demonstrated that “musical training before age 7 is linked with more white matter in the corpus callosum part of the brain, as well as better performance on visual sensorimotor synchronization tasks compared with people who started music training after age 7.” FGP/FGP Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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