Musical Training is Good for Your Kid's Brain

Musically trained kids have better attention and memory recall and have greater activation in brain regions associated with improved reading, greater creativity, higher resilience, and a better quality of life, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.

A research team led by Dr. Leonie Kausel examined the attention and working memory of 40 children between 10-13 years of age. The study participants are divided into groups. One group has experience of at least two years, and the other had no musical training other than in the school curriculum.

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‘Musical training can alter brain structure and function for the better. It can also enhance long-term memory and lead to better brain development for those who start at a young age. ’

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The participants' attention and working memory were evaluated through a "bimodal (auditory/visual) attention and working memory (WM) task." The brain activity of the kids was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

The study found that there was no much difference between the two groups in reaction time. But, musically trained kids did significantly better on the memory task.

The study author suspects that music training increases the functional activity of these brain networks.

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"The next step of the study is to confirm the causality of the mechanisms we found for improving attention and working memory," states Kausel. "We also aim to make a longitudinal study on musical training with kids, assessing attention and working memory, and the possibility to evaluate a musical training intervention on ADHD kids."

Source-Medindia

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