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August 2nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) — It’s been said that music
soothes the savage beast, but if you’re the one playing the instrument it
might benefit your brain.
A growing body of evidence suggests that learning to play an instrument
and continuing to practice and play it may offer mental benefits
throughout life. Hearing has also been shown to be positively affected by
making music.
The latest study, published in the July issue of Frontiers in Human
Neuroscience, shows that musical instrument training may reduce the
effects of mental decline associated with aging. The research found that
older adults who learned music in childhood and continued to play an
instrument for at least 10 years outperformed others in tests of memory
and cognitive ability.
It also revealed that sustaining musical activity during advanced age
may enhance thinking ability, neutralizing any negative impact of age and
even lack of education. It’s unclear, however, whether starting an
instrument in adulthood provides any mental advantages.
“Behaviors can change your brain,” said study author Brenda
Hanna-Pladdy, an assistant professor of neurology, radiology and imaging
sciences at Emory University, in Atlanta.
The study confirms and refines findings from previous research
published April 2011 in the journal Neuropsychology.
In childhood, when the brain is still developing, it seems that
learning a musical instrument and continuing to play it for at least a
decade or more may lay the groundwork for benefits later in life,
Hanna-Pladdy said. But it’s also valuable to then pick up the instrument
in middle age and start playing again, she noted.
In this study, 70 musicians and non-musicians aged 59 to 80 were
evaluated by neuropsychological tests and surveyed about general lifestyle
activities. The musicians scored higher on tests of mental acuity,
visual-spatial judgment, verbal memory and recall, and motor
dexterity.
Hanna-Pladdy, a flutist, became interested in studying the impact of
music education on the brain through her study of people with skilled
movement disorders, such as those who had suffered a stroke. She realized
that music could be a natural way to offer multi-sensory stimulation, an
effective way to treat such disorders. She then became interested in
learning more about the actual effect of musical training on the
brain.
Why study music education as opposed to calculus or history? One reason
is that evaluating the impact of music education is relatively easy
because most people can specifically quantify the number of years they
studied an instrument, Hanna-Pladdy said. It’s also simpler to quantify
the time spent playing music than hours devoted to other activities, such
as crossword puzzles, reading or playing games. “Musical activity requires
years of practice and is a challenging cognitive exercise,” she said.
Cheryl Grady, a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at
Baycrest Centre, in Toronto, said the research confirms what has been
known for some time: Education can help protect against cognitive decline
in older adults.
Grady pointed out that it remains unclear what is actually causing the
beneficial effect. “We still don’t know that much about what actually
happens in the brain. My hunch is that in terms of these results, it has
to do with the practicing, the continued stimulation of the brain,” she
said.
She has studied the impact of learning a second language on the brain,
which Grady said is related to the need to inhibit one language system
when speaking, reading or thinking in the other. The mental process
required to play a musical instrument may work in the same way as juggling
dual languages to strengthen the connections in your brain over time, she
noted.
The bottom line boils down to something simple: “Use it or lose it, or
lose it less quickly,” Grady said.
While the study found an association between musical activity and
staying mentally sharp, it did not prove a cause-and-effect
relationship.
More information
Visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine for more on cognitive impairment.
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