Music Programs Enhance Brain Function in At-Risk Children By: NeuroNet inShare musical instrumentsTwo years of musical training improves the precision with which at-risk children’s brains distinguish similar speech sounds, a new Northwestern University study shows. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, is the first to find direct evidence that a community music program for at-risk children has a biological effect on children’s developing nervous systems. Although previous research has shown how musical training can enhance brain function and heighten academic skills, many of the participants were from middle-to-upper class backgrounds who could also afford private music lessons. The researchers, instead, used random assignment to evaluate brain changes in disadvantaged children by collaborating with an existing music program. The program, Harmony Project, provides free music lessons to thousands of disadvantaged children from gang-reduction zones in Los Angeles, California. For the purpose of this study, the researchers examined children who were between the ages of 6 and 9. Over the course of two years, the researchers returned each summer to evaluate the children longitudinally. The findings reveal how musical training can “remodel” children’s brain to improve sound processing which can lead to better learning, as this neural process is linked to language and reading skills. However, one year of musical training was insufficient at changing any of the neural processes in at-risk children. It is possible to see sufficient changes after one year of musical training in children from higher socioeconomic households. Children from low socioeconomic households and communities have been shown to develop academically slower than children from higher socioeconomic groups. Fortunately, this finding indicates that musical training may help alleviate some of the academic disparities between lower- and higher- socioeconomic children. Furthermore, current research indicates that musical training, regardless of socioeconomic status, promotes brain health and development in children. So, the difference isn’t whether your child takes private music lessons or practices at a local community center, the difference is whether your child partakes in musical training at all. NeuroNet note: Students learn to use rhythmic speech in movement multi-tasking exercises. This helps them develop fluency in speech and movement. As students engage in the rhythmic movement exercises, they must listen and respond, on-time, to alphabet and number prompts. The use of rhythmic speech in NeuroNet exercises helps students hear the sequences of phonemes in words and requires them to elongate and over-enunciate consonant and vowel sounds. Learn how NeuroNet’s Classroom Enrichment program can help your school! exercises are designed to improve Peer-reviewed journal reference: Kraus, Nina et al. 2014. “Music Enrichment Programs Improve the Neural Encoding of Speech in At-Risk Children.” The Journal of Neuroscience 34(36):11913–18. Photo credit: pkize via Flickr CC
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 16:21:54 +0000
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