PHYSICAL BRAIN CHANGES

Popular ideas, such as the ‘Mozart effect’ – the idea that listening to classical music improves intelligence – has encouraged the belief that music makes you smarter. This interest in the relationship between musical aptitude and intelligence has been around for some time. The benefits of music for academic learning are well documented, thanks to research following young people’s progress as they learn an instrument. Evidence that studying music leads to actual physical changes in one’s brain development is also increasing. Significantly, learning and playing music alter the amount of activity in certain regions of the brain, as well as the structure of its specific areas.

One study, at the University of Munster in Germany, monitored the brain activity of two groups of people between 20 and 30 years of age. One group consisted of 20 musicians who had played music for at least 15 years. The other group consisted of 13 non-musicians. Each participant listened to a recording of piano music as the researchers watched their brain responses. While listening to the recording, the musicians showed 25% more activity in the area of the brain that processes auditory signals. Although the music was from a piano, the response level was higher for all musicians, whether they played the piano, violin or another instrument.

A separate study, at McMaster University in Canada,  followed the progress of 12 children for a year. Six of the children were taught music using the Suzuki method, a popular teaching method from Japan. The other six did not learn an instrument. Over the course of the study, the researchers took regular measurements of certain brain regions. They found that the music students had increased activity in the region of the brain responsible for focusing and making sense of different sounds.