Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the neural connections made during musical training also primed the brain for other aspects of human communication.
"The effect of music training suggests that, akin to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development," the researchers said in their study.
This result is pretty intuitive.
The typical criticism leveled at this type of study is that it is very difficult to remove the confounding influence of social and economic wealth; studying music takes time and money, and those who have the resources for such a pursuit often come from favorable socioeconomic positions.
The researchers' take on this problem? Make music available to more people!:
The researchers concluded that there needed to be a serious investment of resources into music training in schools accompanied with rigorous examinations of the effects of such instruction on listening, learning, memory, attention and literacy skills.
Full Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38342541/ns/health-behavior/
And the technical version: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312152003.htm
And the technical version: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070312152003.htm
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