Uncovering Why Playing a Musical Instrument Can Protect Brain Health

A recent study has uncovered a crucial piece into why playing a musical instrument can help older adults retain their listening skills and ward off age-related cognitive declines. This finding could lead to the development of brain rehabilitation interventions through musical training.

The study, found that learning to play a sound on a musical instrument alters the brain waves in a way that improves a person's listening and hearing skills over a short time frame. This change in brain activity demonstrates the brain's ability to rewire itself and compensate for injuries or diseases that may hamper a person's capacity to perform tasks.

"Music has been known to have beneficial effects on the brain, but there has been limited understanding into what about music makes a difference," says a Dr. "This is the first study demonstrating that learning the fine movement needed to reproduce a sound on an instrument changes the brain's perception of sound in a way that is not seen when listening to music."

This finding supports Dr.'s research using musical training to help stroke survivors rehabilitate motor movement in their upper bodies. The scientists have a history of breakthroughs into how a person's musical background impacts the listening abilities and cognitive function as they age and they continue to explore how brain changes during aging impact hearing.

The study involved 32 young, healthy adults who had normal hearing and no history of neurological or psychiatric disorders. The brain waves of participants were first recorded while they listened to bell-like sounds from a Tibetan singing bowl (a small bell struck with a wooden mallet to create sounds). After listening to the recording, half of the participants were provided the Tibetan singing bowl and asked to recreate the same sounds and rhythm by striking it and the other half recreated the sound by pressing a key on a computer keypad.

"It has been hypothesized that the act of playing music requires many brain systems to work together, such as the hearing, motor and perception systems," says Dr., who is also a medical biophysics professor. "This study was the first time we saw direct changes in the brain after one session, demonstrating that the action of creating music leads to a strong change in brain activity."

The study's next steps involve analyzing recovery between stroke patients with musical training compared to physiotherapy and the impact of musical training on the brains of older adults.

With additional funding, the study could explore developing musical training rehabilitation programs for other conditions that impact motor function, such as traumatic brain injury.


Dr.'s work is setting the foundation to develop hearing aids of the future and cognitive training programs to maintain hearing health.

 this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement  

10 Things Science Says Can Make Your Kids Smarter

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.

PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-
HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM      

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR CROCHET DESIGNS- http://My Crochet Creations.blogspot.com/

Scientists often state that the first 10 years of a child's life are the most important. These years are crucial, as they improve the "wiring" of a child's brain. Nevertheless, while instilling these 10 activities during their childhood years will make your kid smarter, studies have also shown that most of these activities benefit teens and adults too.

1. Sign them up for music lessons  A growing body of research finds that music lessons make kids smarter. Control groups showed that children who attended music lessons exhibited a greater IQ. However, the effect was relatively small. Nevertheless, research finds that musical training gives students learning advantages in the classroom. In fact, it was found that musical training doesn't just benefit the young, but the elderly too, offsetting some effects of aging.   2. Have them participate in sports   Studies conducted found that being in good shape increases your ability to learn. According to a 2007 study, German researchers discovered that people learn words 20% faster following exercise than they did before exercise. In another study, a group of volunteers were put on a three-month exercise regimen and took pictures of their brains after. They found that the capillary volume in the memory area of the hippocampus (the area of the brain that focuses on memory and learning) increased by 30%.   3. Read with your kids, not to them  When reading to your kids, don't let them just stare at the pictures in a book while you do all the reading. Share the reading with them, as this will help them build their reading skills. When reading is shared between you and your little one, it promotes early literacy ability, even among disadvantaged children.   4. A good night's sleep is vital  Studies have shown a correlation between grades and the average amount of sleep. In fact, it has been found that a loss of one hour of sleep is equivalent to the loss of two years of cognitive maturation and development. In the studies conducted, it was found that teens who received A's averaged about 15 minutes more sleep than students who received B's, who in turn averaged 15 more minutes than C's, and so on. Every 15 minutes counts!   5. Success is determined by self-discipline, not IQ

Studies show that willpower is what determines success. Students with high levels of willpower were more likely to earn higher grades in their classes. They had fewer absences and spent less time watching television and more hours doing homework. The study also found that self-discipline determined which students would improve their grades over the course of the school year, whereas IQ did not. It proved to have a bigger effect on academic performance than intellect.

6. Real learning isn't passive, it's active

Brain training games and apps don't work. In fact, they have no positive effect on the vocabulary of infants aged 17 to 24 months. Some have actually been shown to do more harm than good. It was found that for every hour children spent watching baby DVD's and videos, the infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them. This is primarily because our brains evolved to learn by doing things, not by hearing about them. It is therefore more beneficial to apply a rule of two-thirds. For example, if you want to memorize a passage, it is better to spend 30% of your time reading it, and the other 70% testing your knowledge.   7. What children eat affects their grades  Research shows that high-carb, high-fiber and slow-digesting foods like oatmeal are best. Furthermore, what you eat a week in advance matters too. In one study, 16 college students were tested on attention and thinking speed. They were then fed a five-day, high-fat, low-carb diet rich in meat, eggs, cheese and cream, then tested again. Results showed that their performance had declined. It was also found that caffeine and glucose can have a beneficial effect on cognitive performance. Results suggest that combining caffeine with glucose increases attention.   8. Happier kids are more likely to become successful, accomplished adults  On average, happy people are more successful at work and in love. Results show that they get better performance reviews, have more prestigious jobs and earn higher salaries. They are also more likely to get married and are more satisfied with their marriages when they do.  9. A child's peer group affects their grades  In a study conducted at Darthmouth College, a child's peer group has powerful influence over them. It was discovered that when students with low grade-point averages mixed with higher-scoring students, their grade-point average increased.   10. Believe in them  A study carried out by Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson (1968), conducted a classroom study telling elementary school teachers that they had certain students in their class who excelled at academics. These students were selected at random. At the end of the school year, 30% of the children selected had gained an average of 22 IQ points, and almost all had gained at least 10 IQ points.

Musical Training Increases Blood Flow to the Left Side of the Brain

New research suggests that musical training can increase blood flow in the left hemisphere of the human brain.

The study by researchers at University of Liverpool shows that brain areas associated with learning and music share common neural pathways.

The small study included 14 musicians and nine non-musicians. Researchers looked at their brain while the participants completed tasks related to music or word generation.

Brain activity for both tasks was similar in musicians, but not in non-musicians, researchers found.

In another experiment, researchers looked at the brain activity pattern of a different set of non-musicians participants who completed the word reference and musical perception task.

The test was repeated after half an hour of musical training. Researchers found that even a brief period of musical training affects blood flow pathway in the brain.

"It was fascinating to see that the similarities in blood flow signatures could be brought about after just half an hour of simple musical training," said Amy Spray.

"This suggests that the correlated brain patterns were the result of using areas thought to be involved in language processing. Therefore we can assume that musical training results in a rapid change in the cognitive mechansims utilised for music perception and these shared mechanisms are usually employed for language," Dr Georg Mayer, Liverpool Psychologist, explained.

Previous research has shown that the brains of Jazz musicians have common brain circuitry for music and language. Related studies have shown that musicians are good at integrating sensory information such as touch, sight and hearing.

The latest study paper is called 'The effects of musical training on cerebral lateralization patterns- a functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography study.'

 

PS- THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.

PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-

HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR CROCHET DESIGNS

HTTP://MY CROCHET CREATIONS.BLOGSPOT.COM