Music Makes You Smarter

Did you ever hear the saying “Music makes you smarter?” Well according to Northwestern University Researchers, it does! The researchers suggest that musical training help enhance skills that relate to language, speech, vocal emotion, memory, and attention. The article describes a term called neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt and change as a result of experience and preparation during the period of a person’s life. It also states that the neural connections that happen in musical training have a great effect on the brain for human communication. Nina Kraus, lead author of the Nature perspective, the Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, said that musical sounds help the nervous system with patterns that are essential in learning.

How is this proven? Musicians are said to be more intelligent when it comes to learning sound patterns for a language into words, because people who are musically trained demonstrate stronger neural activation to pitch changes in speech; therefore allowing them to do better when it comes to learning how to read and learning new vocabulary. All musicians are trained to hear sounds that are in melodies and harmonies. With that said they show memory and sensory abilities that give them an advantage to understand speech in difficult speech environments.

In conclusion, music training is similar to exercising the brain. The article states, “Music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development.” Musical training affects your listening, learning, memory, attention, and literacy skills; and it is very useful to help children learn at a faster pace.

Source: Northwestern University. "How Music Training Primes Nervous System and Boosts Learning." ScienceDaily 20 July 2010. 24 August 2010 .