Many ideas say that music training has a positive effect on cognitive function, has long been a source of attention. Research on this problem first appeared in the early 20th century. The Standardization Assessment of IQ and musical ability states that both are correlated and it is estimated that participation in music training can increase IQ (intellectual intelligence).
Recently, research has shifted its focus from the effects of music training on global intelligence, to focusing on the benefits of specific abilities and tasks for individuals.
Music training has been shown to cause improvements in a variety of different abilities, such as memory and spatial learning. In addition, language skills such as verbal memory, literacy and verbal intelligence have proven very useful for music training.
Musicians are also more adept at processing speeches in environments where there is a lot of background noise, have a greater tendency to process auditory signals which in some cases degrade and show benefits to their naive music counterparts when detecting tones in both music and language.
Recent advances in technology have also enabled researchers to investigate the neural (functional, structural and electrophysiological) basis of this adaptation.
1. Brain response
A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, aims to examine neural development in adolescence and the influence of certain forms of experience, such as music training.
The Neurophysiological Method is adopted to measure subcortical and cortical responses to the ability to speak in the brain in two groups of adolescents in secondary schools in the Chicago area, United States. One group took part in a music training group, and another group took part in the Junior Reserve Coach Training Program.
The choice of interest in one of these two programs is part of the school curriculum, which is a major part of the research, Adam Tierney of Northwestern University.
In my opinion, using this method allows Adam and his research team to assess how the brains of participants encode speaking skills before and after three years of the second training. Language skills are also assessed by using phonological awareness tasks - such as asking teenagers to make new words by dropping syllables or sound units from the spoken word.
They were also assessed for using phonological memory tasks, where they had to repeat numerical lists or non-English words, and name naming quickly, where they had to read aloud the list of letters and numbers quickly and accurately as possible.
In adolescence, the brain is not fully developed and in certain areas has not reached maturity, which makes this age period very interesting to test. The results showed that both groups made improvements in all language assignments, as expected during this period in their development - however, a greater increase in phonological awareness tasks occurred in groups undergoing music training.
Using this method, allows researchers to track the level of neural development in the participants' brains. They can measure the usual time course of changes that occur at this stage in the development and assess any changes that occur in the music training group, or officer training.
The researchers observed normal brain development that occurred in the age of both groups. For those who take part in music training, the period of time during which the brain area develops and those responsible for processing hearing are longer than those who take part in training. Music training groups also show accelerated time to achieve adult cortical development. Therefore these results indicate that participation in music training can accelerate brain development and can be useful for literacy skills.
2. Music and language
Music serves as a potential training ground for language skills and may also offer potential in effective, economical and fun activities that can help improve language skills in children around the world if applied in school. Providing music training in adolescence can help trigger early and accelerate the maturity of their brain.
This advantage may also have the potential to provide broader capacity enhancements, such as second language learning. This study shows that music training can help extend the window of time in which the brain develops and is able to handle complex auditory input, which in turn can make second language learning more affordable for people who have to fight hard.
It is important to note that, although music training shows benefits for the language task of phonological awareness, there is no difference between the two groups of adolescents for the other two tests on phonological memory and fast naming. This shows that although music training has the potential to improve some forms of language skills, there are areas that do not increase.