Like most American students, I was taught how to read sheet music and play the ukulele. That initial interest in music led me to take up playing the violin through my elementary and middle school. However, that marked the end of my musical exploration as my parents instructed me to prioritize STEM classes over spending my time playing an instrument. Now, after listening to Dr. Toby Dye’s talk on the paper titled "Executive Function, Visual Attention, and the Cocktail Party Problem in Musicians and Non-Musicians," I find myself second-guessing my choice to stop my musical endeavors. In the lecture I learned that studies show that playing instruments is actually beneficial to cognitive function as musicians perform better than non-musicians. This led me to research more about other cognitive benefits that playing instruments has on cognitive health. This search led me to the article "The effects of musical instrument training on fluid intelligence and executive functions in Healthy Older Adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis" by Dr. Fionnuala Rogers and Dr. Claudia Metzler-Baddeley.
Rogers and Metzler-Baddeley's study delves into the multifaceted cognitive benefits of musical training. Once again the results of the study highlight better attention, memory, and executive functions among older individuals with musical expertise, those who play instruments, compared to their peers who do not have any musical expertise. One of the differences between musicians and non-musicians is the neuroplastic changes induced by musical training, such as heightened auditory processing skills and strengthened reward mechanisms compared to those who do not play music. One example of the heightened benefit of musicians is their superior ability to perceive and synchronize with rhythmic patterns, which demonstrates how musical training can enhance temporal processing abilities of the brain. This, in turn, can translate to improved attention and working memory skills in various cognitive tasks.
Clayton's study, on the other hand, focused on the cognitive factors influencing performance in challenging listening environments, in this case, the "cocktail party" scenario where multiple conversations occur simultaneously. By comparing musicians and non-musicians, Clayton investigates how executive function and visual attention contribute to spatial hearing tasks, revealing intriguing insights into how musical expertise shapes cognitive abilities crucial for navigating complex auditory scenes. For example, musicians' superior performance in spatial hearing tasks suggests that their training not only sharpens auditory processing skills but also enhances their ability to selectively attend to relevant auditory information amidst competing noise, a skill highly relevant in real-world scenarios where individuals must focus on a speaker in a noisy environment.
Having gained insights from both of these studies, I found myself inspired to embark on learning a new instrument, not only to acquire a fresh skill but also to enhance my cognitive abilities. Fortunately, the beauty of learning music knows no age boundaries. Therefore, I encourage everyone to consider picking up an instrument, even if it's solely to explore and develop a new skill set.
References:
Clayton, K. K., Swaminathan, J., Yazdanbakhsh, A., Zuk, J., Patel, A. D., & Kidd, G. (2016). Executive function, visual attention and the cocktail party problem in musicians and Non-Musicians. PLOS ONE, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157638
Rogers, F., & Metzler-Baddeley, C. (2024). The effects of musical instrument training on fluid intelligence and executive functions in Healthy Older Adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain and Cognition, 175, 106137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2024.106137
T Zaatar, M., Alhakim, K., Enayeh, M., & Tamer, R. (2023). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 35, 100716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2023.100716
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