Music Education Brain Development

Music training in childhood “fundamentally alters the nervous system such that neural changes persist in adulthood after auditory training has ceased.”

– Skoe, E. & N. Kraus.  (2012).  A little goes a long way: How the Adult Brain Is Shaped by Musical Training in Childhood.  The Journal of Neuroscience, 32(34):11507–11510.

 

Scientific American’s (2010) board of editors asserted, “Studies have shown that assiduous instrument training from an early age can help the brain to process sounds better, making it easier to stay focused when absorbing other subjects, from literature to tensor calculus.”

– Hearing the music, honing the mind.  (2010). Scientific American, 303(5), 16.

 

The cognitive structures developed through music instruction “exposed and illuminated more general organizing structures relevant for multiple disciplines.”

– Portowitz,P., Lichtenstein, O., Egorova, L., & Brand, E. (2009).  Underlying mechanisms linking music education and cognitive modifiability.  Research Studies in Music Education, 31, 107–29.

 

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