(www.neomundo.com.ar the role of the music may be more important than it seems at first glance.) Learn to play an instrument improves skills related to language, speech, memory and attention.

To those conclusions came a series of studies analyzed jointly by Northwestern University (United States). The findings were published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Nina Kraus, the lead author, said that in recent years there was a large increase in the number of investigations that reviewed the relationship between music and the nervous system. The results of these studies should have “a strong impact on education”, he argued.

Some of the works found that musicians are working to learn the sounds of a new language. In turn, children who play an instrument have a better vocabulary, read better and show a greater neuronal activation changes of tone in oral language.

The plasticity

much of the studies focused on the plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to change the connections between neurons in order to adapt to changes or new situations. This plasticity is the result of education or experience that a person has throughout his life.

Kraus said that studying music seems to generate new brain connections that allow great achievements in the area of communication. At the same time, research suggests that this good habit facilitates the creation of patterns very important for learning.

The author explained that the brain can not process all the sensory information arriving, which selects what he considers most important. Play an instrument helps neurons to more effectively choose what is most relevant within a wide range of stimuli.

“The brain of a musician selects elements with vital information about a sound.” “In a beautiful interplay of sensory and cognitive processes, the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what do they mean,” he explained. This training is ideal for playing a song but also for many aspects of the communication.

Kraus concluded that it should promote music education in schools and further investigate the effects of this training in learning, memory, attention and literary skills.

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