Who would know that playing musical instruments serves as
effective brain training and its benefits extends even to those without prior
musical background? Basically, regular musical training helps in reconstructing
the gray matter of the brain that is in charge of coordination.
The success
lies in the findings derived from two separate studies conducted by the
University Hospital San Raffaele, where in the first study showed that there
was a dramatic increase in the participants ‘motor skills after going through a
2 week training on a piano keyboard for 35 minutes per session. Furthermore,
the participants also demonstrated harmonization in manual dexterity. In the
second study, the researchers divided the musically inexperienced participants
into 3 groups and their task is to use their right hand t play a particular
sequence as they follow a metronome. The
first group listened to a metronome while the second group listened to a
different piece but with the same rhythm, while as for the third group, they
listened to music with a faster rhythm while trying to play the piece assigned.
Results showed that the harder the task, the more changes to the brain’s gray
matter. The two studies provide
evidences that ambidextrous trainings develop better coordination of the two
brain hemispheres.
Professor Massimo Filippi concluded that the gray matter’s
structural plasticity can be greatly developed through musical stimulation. The
said study also provided great support for the latest research on brain’s
neuroplasticity or the brain’s ability to reconstructs itself.
Basically, with
repeated use of certain brain areas, better interconnection develops as it
gathers resources from those less used.
Written by: K.J. Tomo
BrainFit Studio Philippines
Reference:
Petra Rattue. (2012, July 17). “How Music Benefits The
Brain.” Medical News Today. Retrieved
from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246675.php.
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