A child's brain develops faster with music education.
A two-year study by researchers at the University of Southern California's Brain and Creativity Institute (BCI) shows that exposure to music and music education accelerates the brain development of young children in the areas responsible for language development, sound, reading and speech perception.
Music Education Brain
The study of 6-7-year-old children began in 2012, when neuroscientists started monitoring a group of 37 children from a disadvantaged Los Angeles neighborhood. Thirteen of them received music lessons through the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles program, practicing up to seven hours a week. Eleven children were enrolled in a community-based football program and a further 13 children were not involved in any training program at all. The researchers compared the three groups by tracking electrical activity in the brain, conducting behavioral tests, and tracking changes using brain scans.
Musical Instrument Brain
The results showed that the children's auditory systems in the music program were faster than the other children who were not engaged in music. Dr. Assal Habibi, the study's lead author and a senior research associate at the BCI, explained that the hearing system is stimulated by music and that the system is also engaged in general sound processing. This is essential for reading, language development, and successful communication.
I'm glad my dad promoted and taught music lessons at school so enthusiastically. Several former students have testified to this over the years.