Musicians and Neuroplasticity

The many toddlers who were essentially dragged into music classes should start vigorously thanking their parents. A study conducted by Dr. Nina Kraus suggests that musical training can physiologically enhance the auditory system! Children exposed to musical instruction have shown superior skill in distinguishing changes in pitch as well as exceptional timing and timbre recognition.  Gradual mastery of these musical dynamics in young children triggers alterations in the neuroplasticity of their brain to specialize in musical processing.  In other words, the brain of a child who regularly attends musical training changes looks structurally different than the brain of a non-musician child.  There is also a higher display of neural activity in the musician’s auditory cortex; it goes haywire when notes are played on the instrument that the musician specializes in. As expected, the age at which musical training commenced and the total number of years the individual received musical training is a critical factor in extensive brain development and neuronal activity.  Dr. Kraus also noted that musicians have relatively larger volumes of grey matter in areas of the brain that are vital for playing, such as motor and auditory domains.

Learning to play an instrument has typically been compared to learning a language. To an extent, music and speech are quite similar.  Beautiful music requires the implementation of emotion through manipulation of pitch and timbre to invoke a potential meaning.  Without meaning, music is quite dull. On top of that, musicians must also utilize their working memory, selective attention and syntactic guidelines in order to play. These abilities are also critical for speech which may indicate that when compared to non-musicians, musicians might display higher speech and linguistic abilities!

A study conducted by a cognitive research team of Vanderbilt University provides further differences between the brains of musicians and non-musicians. According to the research team, musicians extensively utilize both sides of the frontal cortex more often than non-musicians. Musicians are also more proficient in divergent thinking. Essentially, it is easier for musicians to creatively find a multitude of solutions to a problem! If you truly think about it, musicians constantly create musical improvisations which involves both sides of the frontal cortex and requires creativity.  So start thanking your pushy parents musicians and there’s still hope for you non-musicians.  Although the brain development will be less dramatic, it’s never too late to pick up an instrument!

References:

Hadjikyriakou, Ariadne. ""People With The Most Effective Thinking: Musicians"" KYPRIS People With The Most Effective Thinking MUSICIANS Comments. N.p., 17 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. <http://www.kyprisnews.com/2012/11/17/people-with-the-most-effective-thinking-musicians/>.

Kraus, Nina, and Bharath Chandrasekaran. "Music Training for the Development of Auditory Skills." Science and Society 11 (2010): n. pag. Web.