Beginners who took piano lessons for one hour a week over the course of 11 weeks showed improvements in audio and visual processing. Additionally, musical training helped to boost mood and reduce symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Musical training influences visual working memory, researchers discovered. The study found regions of the brain may share a common component that influences both visual and musical working memory.
Children who learn to play musical instruments have an edge over their non-musical peers when it comes to learning, memory, and attention. Those who learn musical instruments showed greater activity in the inferior frontal gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus, which are parts of the "phonological loop". The phonological loop is associated with working memory involved in auditory processing. Researchers say learning an instrument also has positive implications on creativity and quality of life overall for children.
Researchers say those who can improvise are better musicians than those who have limited improvisational experience. Additionally, the brains of those trained to improvise show different patters of electrical activity than non-improvising players.
A new study reports children who receive musical training have better word discrimination than other kindergarteners who had not undertaken music lessons.
Incorporating musical lessons into preschool classes can significantly help to improve children's linguistic skills, researchers report.
According to researchers, bilingual people and trained musicians utilize fewer resources in their brains while completing working memory tasks. As their brains require less effort to perform tasks, researchers speculate this could protect them from the onset of cognitive decline.
Musical training may enhance the ability to process speech in noisy settings, a new study reveals.
Researchers report the auditory system may be shaped by exposure to different auditory environments.
In as little as two years of learning, music can change the structure of the brain's white matter and boost networks implicated in decision making in children, USC researchers report.
According to researchers, taking music lessons can increase brain fiber connections in children. Music lessons may also prove a useful tool in treating Autism and ADHD.
For kids with poor social skills, musical lessons can help them become more socially adept, a new study reports.
