Brain on Music Education 109: Another Benefit of Rigorous Music Education in Elementary School: Improved Speech Perception and Processing

Hello fellow followers of Music Empowers Foundation. We’re going to jump right into this quarter’s column, which focuses on differences in speech perception and processing between two groups of elementary-aged children. Each group received active training in either music or painting over two school years. As we always do, let’s explain the study’s design and components, dissect the technical jargon and elaborate on the findings.
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Brain on Music Education 108: Can’t Get it Out of My Head: The Neurobiological Basis for Why We Love Music

With the first days of summer beckoning us to well deserved downtime on the beach, trail, cottage or a far away place, there is a good chance our favorite music will be with us. Rather than focusing on a topic related to how early music education greatly benefits our brain in general, we are going to cover something we already know and neurobiologists are just beginning to figure out: why listening to music gives us pleasure.
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Brain on Music Education 107: Stuck in the Middle with You. The Corpus Callosum: A Superhighway to Musicianship

In this, our 7th column, we delve more deeply into a recent Music Empowers Facebook News brief on a new study, which found that early music training was associated with structural changes in the corpus callosum and better eye-hand coordination. Let’s review the study. Hopefully, we’ll be able to shed some light into the complex methodologies the researchers used and how the findings can help you further Music Empowers’ cause.
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Brain on Music Education 106: Brainstem Changes following Music Education: Another Piece of the Puzzle or another Puzzling Piece?

It is wonderful to be back with another Column. We will continue to explore and explain why early music education is important for our children not only for bringing pleasure and fulfillment but also because of the additional benefits in other learning areas.
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Brain on Music Education 105: A State of the Art Imaging Study Demonstrates that Piano Instruction and Regular Practice are Associated with the Co-activation of Multiple Brain Areas.

With last month’s successful MEF fundraiser behind us, it’s time for our fifth column. It is probably a good time to remind you of the key questions “Your Brain on Music Education” is addressing. You may recall when the series was introduced last summer that we were going to examine several questions:
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The Mozart Effect: A Note of Truth 104

Great to be back. Hope everyone had a relaxing holiday break. Hard to believe it is February. Andy and I thought this month’s column should focus on “The Mozart effect.” The term was coined by the media to describe the findings of a study published in 1993 in the prestigious journal Nature (1). The media attention has taken the term well beyond the short‐term effects described.
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Music Education and Long-Term Effects on Cognition 103

It is always exciting to write this monthly column. Andy and I typically throw a few ideas back and forth before we decide which aspect of the vast area of music education and brain development the column should focus on. The results of the scientific study we are focusing on this month(1) suggest that formal instrumental music education and regularly playing a musical instrument benefit brain plasticity and function throughout life.
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Music Education and Brain Plasticity 102

It is really great to be back with my second column. This month, we will summarize and elaborate on the robust study you heard about in early October through MEF tweets and Facebook updates, which reported that verbal intelligence and brain plasticity were enhanced in a group of children following music training.1 Let’s review and elaborate on the results so that MEF has more in its armamentarium to defend and expand rigorous music education in our children’s schools.
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Music Education and Brain Plasticity 101

I am pleased to be a part of Music Empowers and writing this first column. My fascination for the inner workings of the brain goes back to a memoir I read as a child entitled "Death Be Not Proud" (John Gunther; published 1949). Like most boys, I did not like reading. But this true story about Gunther's son's struggle and eventual demise from a brain tumor really captivated me on many levels. One was the multitude of unanswered questions it raised about the brain. No doubt, all of us in the Foundation share this curiosity. We also believe that a solid music education is critical for our children's personal & intellectual growth.
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