Music and the Brain

Music training changes brain networks

The DANA website reports the most current research related to brain science. For those of us interested in ways to enhance body brain function, exciting research has been reported relating musical rehearsal on the developing brain. Research by Ellen Winner and Gottfried Schlaug shows, “that children who receive weekly music instruction and practice regularly perform better on sound discrimination and fine motor tasks. Furthermore, brain imaging shows changes to the networks associated with those abilities.” Sound discrimination is central to reading and fine motor movement is key to writing. Let’s convey this research to educators who often fail to understand the importance of music to academic performance.