If you want to firm up your body, head to the gym. If you want to exercise your brain, listen to music. The power of music isn’t limited to interesting research.
“There are few things that stimulate the brain the way music does,” says one Johns Hopkins otolaryngologist. “If you want to keep your brain engaged throughout the aging process, listening to or playing music is a great tool. It provides a total brain workout.”
When people grow older, their responses get weaker. However, if we realize that playing an instrument improves their response times, then perhaps making music would be useful to them.
Research illustrates that listening to musical pieces can alleviate anxiety, blood pressure, and discomfort, as well as enhance sleep, appetite, mental alertness, and memory.
“Music probably does something unique,” explains neuropsychologist Catherine Loveday of the University of Westminster. “It stimulates the brain in a very powerful way because of our emotional connection with it.”
The Brain-Music Connection
Brain scans were able to distinguish the difference in brain function between musicians and non-musicians. Quite importantly, in musicians, the corpus callosum, a huge bundle of nerve fibers linking the two sides of the brain, is larger. In comparison, the regions of motion, listening, and visuospatial capacity tend to be greater in professional keyboard players.
“Music is structural, mathematical, and architectural. It’s based on relationships between one note and the next. You may not be aware of it, but your brain has to do a lot of computing to make sense of it,” notes one otolaryngologist.
These findings indicate that playing a musical instrument raises the amount of gray matter in multiple brain areas, and also enhances long-range interactions between them. Further study indicates that musical instruction can improve visual memory, spatial thinking, and reading abilities.
Other Ways Learning an Instrument Strengthens Your Brain
- Strengthens bonds with others. Think about your favorite band. They can only make a record when they have contact, communication, and collaboration with each other.
- Enhances memory and the ability to read. The Northwestern University Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory notes that it’s because music and reading are linked by similar neuronal and cognitive mechanisms.
- Playing music makes you happy. McMaster University has found that children who have attended immersive musical lessons have not just developed early communication abilities, but they smiled more.
- Musicians can process multiple things at once. This is because playing music allows you to process multiple senses at once. This can lead to superior multisensory skills.
- Music increases blood flow in your brain. Studies show that short bursts of musical training rises the blood flow to the brain’s left hemisphere. If you need a blast of energy, that can be helpful.
- It helps the brain recover. Motor control improved in everyday activities with stroke patients.
- Music reduces stress and depression. A report of cancer patients showed that listening to and playing music decreased anxiety. Another research showed that music therapy reduced levels of stress and anxiety.
- Musical practice improves the brain’s executive functions. Executive functions include essential roles such as information collection and management, behavior monitoring, decision-making, and problem-solving. If strengthened, you will improve your ability to live. Musical training will enhance and increase the performance of both children and adults.
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