The Benefits of Playing an Instrument

The impact that music has on the brain has proven to be quite substantial based on evidence from various research findings. Specifically, playing an instrument is shown to change and benefit the structure and function of the brain in ways that cannot compare. In an article by Dr. Toby Dye, “Listening to the Brainstem: Musicianship Enhances Intelligibility of Subcorital Representations for Speech '', he discusses how musicianship can enhance brainstem processing ability in addition to more advanced levels of speech and language. He studied musicians with extensive experience, and proved that those with musical training are more susceptible to neuroplastic changes in the brain than those without musicianship. The data was found through spatial hearing tasks which also concluded that music has an influence on a persons’ s memory. 

In another article in Time Magazine, “Your Aging Brain Will Be in Better Shape If You’ve Taken Music Lessons”, Diane Nicole presents various research findings and ultimately discusses the great benefits of musical training for the brain and how it affects the brain’s plasticity. She explains that the longer someone has trained and played an instrument will have increased verbal working memory in addition to other benefits in their older age. Interestingly, those who hadn’t played music in years still maintained all of the great advantages they had gained when they were consistently practicing their instrument. She also adds that playing an instrument can improve a person’s hearing and communication skills even as they age. These musicians have a heightened ability to discern sounds, which greatly impacts how a person communicates with others, as well as their ability to hear when an environment may be loud. 

The Time Magazine article expanded on what Dr. Toby Dye presents and it further supports the evidence he found. Contrastingly, it discusses the effects of music in people who are over 50 years old and how the years of training has been able to aid them in their later years. Both articles confirm that playing an instrument is such a beneficial activity people can do that will positively affect them throughout their lives. Musical training seems to be the best type of cognitive training a person can do for themselves and should be encouraged for all people, despite the age that they begin. It would be interesting to see if there is any research done on people who are trained singers and see if there are any lasting impacts on this and if they compare with hands on instruments such as piano or the violin.

References

Cole, Diane. “Your Aging Brain Will Be in Better Shape If You've Taken Music Lessons.” National Geographic, 25 July 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/1/140103-music-lessons-brain-aging-cognitive-neuroscience/.

Weiss, M. W., and G. M. Bidelman. “Listening to the Brainstem: Musicianship Enhances Intelligibility of Subcortical Representations for Speech.” Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 35, no. 4, 2015, pp. 1687–1691., doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3680-14.2015.