In the
April 23, 1998 issue of Nature, Researchers at the University
of Munster in Germany reported their discovery that music lessons
in childhood actually enlarge the brain. An area used to analyse
the pitch of a musical note is enlarged 25% in musicians, compared
to people who have never played an instrument. The findings
suggest the area is enlarged through practice and experience.
The younger the musicians were when they started musical training,
the bigger this area of the brain appears to be.
Research
at the University of Munster shows each activity of the human
brain, for example reading, leads to minute changes of the magnetic
field in the brain. These fluctuations can be measured and give
an insight of the activity in the brain.
The research
areas are very wide, ranging from studies of epilepsy to the
study of the functional organisation of the auditory cortex.
It was thought for two centuries that nerve connections were
formed before birth or in very early childhood but not in later
life. This study disproved this theory and it gives an example
of what fundamental values can be made with the help of neuro-magnetic
studies.
"The discovery,
described in the April 23 issue of the journal Nature, was made
after scientists put musicians and others into a magnetic brain
imaging machine pointed at the auditory cortex, where sounds
are processed. This part of the brain contains cells, called
neurons, which are sensitive to different sound frequencies.
Neurons that fire in response to the same frequency tend to
cluster into little islands, forming a kind of sound frequency
map in the auditory cortex."
"The researchers
said that skilled musicians use more neurons for processing
sounds from a piano or better synchronise those sounds because
of their training. Furthermore, the younger the musicians started
playing their instruments, the greater their response to piano
notes. Musicians with perfect pitch or absolute pitch showed
no differences. The increased response to piano tones was the
same in those who played piano, woodwinds, or string instruments,
although most said they had received early training on the piano."
As we mentioned
before we are about to see an avalanche of information which
will go on to show the incredible impact music making has on
the overall development of human beings OF ALL AGES.
This is
just one more important piece of the puzzle!
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