Monday, September 4, 2017

Music and Brain Science

     Have you been to Downtown Detroit to see and hear the jazz festival? Although this blog has nothing to do with the jazz festival, the research on music and brain science is fascinating.

     Scientist have been monitoring musicians brain activity with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Positron Emission Tomography. When performing various activities brain areas light-up, but when playing music multiple areas light-up as sounds are processed. Listening to music engages the brain, but playing music is equivalent to a full body work-out. Playing a musical instrument engages every part of the brain. Brain areas effected are motor, visual, and auditory. Discipline and structured practice strengthen brain function, and allow for transferring knowledge to other activities.

     Listening to music and playing it requires development of fine motor skills. Both left and right hemispheres of the brain are in full use. Corpus callosum is center of the brain, and messages from both hemispheres travel back and forth allowing messages to transfer faster from both routes.

     Musicians have higher levels of executive functions such as planning, strategizing, and paying attention to details, and forming a bridge between cognitive and emotional aspects. Enhancement in multiple brain areas have been found in musicians.

     Music training can significantly improve motor and reasoning skills. Music is shown to increase auditory discrimination abilities, and increase fine motor skills for students in three or more years of music study. Music students test better on vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning skills in identifying relationships, similarities, and differences between shapes and patterns.

     Parents, this blog provides compelling reasons to enroll your children into music lessons. Also, and who knows, maybe your child could become a professional musician. If so, I will see him/her in performance at the Downtown Detroit Jazz Festival.




Cooper, Belle Beth (2013, December 6). The Surprising Science Behind What Music Does To Our Brains, Fast Company & Inc @ 2017 Mansueto Ventures, LLC

Awesome Daily Staff (2015, January 2). What Playing A Musical Instrument Does To Your Brain, The Awesome Daily

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