Tuesday, 30 July 2013

The art of making noise

 According to an article published in the online version of Faculty of 1000 biology reports, playing a musical instrument has the potential to change the shape and the power of the brain.

There is growing evidence that musicians have structurally and functionally different brains compared with non-musicians, in particular the areas of the brain used in processing and playing music. These include: motor skills, hearing, storing audio information and help the memory to become larger and more active when a person learns how to play an instrument and can apparently improve day to day actions such as being alert, planning and emotional perception.

Psychologists at the University of Zurich claim that benefits are widespread and affect both children as well as adults, including those over 65 years of age, who with just one hour a week of musical practice over a four month period showed signs of change in the brain structure.

An interesting side affect is that people who play musical instruments seem to be more adept at learning foreign language and more in tune to recognising the emotions in other people. It seems musicians are better able to store audio information.

Music has a strong influence on the plasticity of the brain and can increase memory and language skills. 

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