Studying Music Optimizes Brain Functions

While drums and percussion are FUN to play, and there simply is nothing better than performing music with your friends in front of a live audience…there is a lot of science to back up all of the many benefits to studying music.

Neuroscientists are discovering multiple ways that musical training improves the function and connectivity of different brain regions. Musical training increases brain volume and strengthens communication between brain areas. Playing an instrument changes how the brain interprets and integrates a wide range of sensory information, especially for those who start before age 7. These findings were presented at the Neuroscience 2013 conference in San Diego.

Specifically, the research shows three main benefits:

Three Brain Benefits of Musical Training:

1. Musicians have an enhanced ability to integrate sensory information from hearing, touch, and sight.

2. The age at which musical training begins affects brain anatomy as an adult; beginning training before the age of seven has the greatest impact.

3. Brain circuits involved in musical improvisation are shaped by systematic training, leading to less reliance on working memory and more extensive connectivity within the brain.