Saturday, July 27, 2024

Benefits of Playing Music

The Benefits of Playing Music Help Your Brain
More Than Any Other Activity

By John Rampton, 2017

"Long-Lasting Benefits for Musicians

Brain-scanning studies have found that the anatomical change in musicians' brains is related to the age when training began. It shouldn't be surprising, but learning at a younger age causes the most drastic changes.

Interestingly, even brief periods of musical training can have long-lasting benefits. A 2013 study found that even those with moderate musical training preserved sharp processing of speech sounds. It was also able to increase resilience to any age-related decline in hearing.

Researchers also believe that playing music helps speech processing and learning in children with dyslexia. Furthermore, learning to play an instrument as a child can protect the brain against dementia.

"Music reaches parts of the brain that other things can't," says Loveday. "It's a strong cognitive stimulus that grows the brain in a way that nothing else does, and the evidence that musical training enhances things like working memory and language is very robust."

Other Ways Learning an Instrument Strengthens Your Brain

Guess what? We're still not done. Here are eight additional ways that learning an instrument strengthens your brain.

1. Strengthens bonds with others. This shouldn't be surprising. Think about your favorite band. They can only make a record when they have contact, coordination, and cooperation with one another.

2. Strengthens memory and reading skills. The Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University states this is because music and reading are related via common neural and cognitive mechanisms.

3. Playing music makes you happy. McMaster University discovered that babies who took interactive music classes displayed better early communication skills. They also smiled more.

4. Musicians can process multiple things at once. As mentioned above, this is because playing music forces you to process multiple senses at once. This can lead to superior multisensory skills.

5. Music increases blood flow in your brain. Studies have found that short bursts of musical training increase the blood flow to the left hemisphere of the brain. That can be helpful when you need a burst of energy. Skip the energy drink and jam for 30 minutes.

6. Music helps the brain recover. Motor control improved in everyday activities with stroke patients.

7. Music reduces stress and depression. A study of cancer patients found that listening to and playing music reduced anxiety. Another study revealed that music therapy lowered levels of depression and anxiety.

8. Musical training strengthens the brain's executive function. Executive function covers critical tasks like processing and retaining information, controlling behavior, making decisions, and problem solving. If strengthened, you can boost your ability to live. Musical training can improve and strengthen executive functioning in both children and adults."

2 comments:

  1. I could not agree with you more. Music has been part of my family for generations. My grandfather was a musician, professor of piano and composer, my mother was a violinist, I starting studying music when I was four years old (guitar and piano) and I am still studying music 60 years later! All of my children play instruments, piano, violin, trombone and my two grandchildren are studying music. My granddaughter has been in Suzuki music since she was four and I have been teaching my grandson guitar since he was three years old.

    I cannot begin to describe the benefits that music has given to our family both from a personal and social point of view to a physical, mental and spiritual point of view.

    I am only saddened by how little value that society today places on giving children a musical education.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:03 AM PDT

      Thank you for sharing your inspiring story of multi-generational musical playing and enjoyment. At the age of 78, I'm learning to play a harmonica.
      What fun!

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