Close X
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Early music lessons boost kids' brainpower

Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jun, 2014 01:41 PM
    Tired of using methods to improve your kid's overall performance? Try music.
     
    Researchers have found that musical training early in life can set up children for a better academic future.
     
    Children who undertook early musical training were better at quickly processing and retaining information and problem solving, the findings showed.
     
    "While many schools are cutting music programmes and spending more and more time on test preparation, our findings suggest that musical training may actually help to set up children for a better academic future," said Nadine Gaab from Boston Children's Hospital in the US.
     
    For the study, researchers compared 15 musically-trained children between ages nine to 12, with a control group of 12 untrained children of the same age.
     
    Musically trained children had to have played an instrument for at least two years in regular private music lessons.
     
    The researchers similarly compared 15 adults who were active professional musicians with 15 non-musicians.
     
    On cognitive testing, adult musicians and musically-trained children showed enhanced performance on several aspects of executive functioning.
     
    On functional MRI imaging (fMRI), the children with musical training showed enhanced activation of specific areas of the prefrontal cortex during a test that made them switch between mental tasks.
     
    These areas, the supplementary motor area, the pre-supplementary area and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, are known to be linked to executive function, Daily Mail reported.
     
    "Since executive functioning is a strong predictor of academic achievement, even more than IQ, we think our findings have strong educational implications," Gaab added.
     
    The study appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Why suicides peak between midnight and 4 a.m.

    Why suicides peak between midnight and 4 a.m.
    Apart from late-night parties, good night's sleep and some real action, the time between midnight to 4 a.m. is also known for another thing - suicide.

    Why suicides peak between midnight and 4 a.m.

    Anti-diabetic drug may slow aging too

    Anti-diabetic drug may slow aging too
    Keeping the years off your face may soon become a lot easier as researchers have now discovered new evidence that anti-diabetic drug metformin slows aging and increases lifespan.

    Anti-diabetic drug may slow aging too

    Stressed mothers may affect behaviour of the unborn

    Stressed mothers may affect behaviour of the unborn
    Stress during pregnancy can affect the baby in your womb in many ways as researchers have found that foetuses are more likely to show left-handed movements in the womb when their mothers are stressed.

    Stressed mothers may affect behaviour of the unborn

    Sperm-inspired microbots to deliver drugs

    Sperm-inspired microbots to deliver drugs
    Researchers, including an Indian-origin scientist, have developed sperm look-alike robots that can be used for drug delivery, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), cell sorting and other applications at the microscopic level.

    Sperm-inspired microbots to deliver drugs

    Male contraceptive pill will have to wait

    Male contraceptive pill will have to wait
    The much speculated birth control pill for males may not see the light of day soon as researchers have found that hormonal male contraception via testosterone does not stop the production of healthy sperm.

    Male contraceptive pill will have to wait

    Exercise scores over diet in lowering breast cancer risk

    Exercise scores over diet in lowering breast cancer risk
    Are you on a strict diet to reduce body fat that may also help lower breast cancer risk? Better take up exercise as researchers have found that physical activity offers additional benefit, beyond the effect of weight loss in reducing cancer risk.

    Exercise scores over diet in lowering breast cancer risk