Music Might Boost Your Baby's Brainpower! Inside the Brain of Musicians

Have you ever watched your favorite singer playing live and wondered how on earth he can remember all those lyrics? Scientists also wondered and they studied musician’s brains, then they looked at the effects of music exposure on babies. But before diving into babies listening to music, let’s check what happens in the brain of a musician.

A musician’s brain really is different

When you think of a musician you think noisy concerts and long hours spent in the recording studio, along with their fellow musicians and producers. Not very pleasant, on the long run. But then, you see the singer: a happy, positive person who can memorize dozens of phone numbers and songs. Anita Collins, a music educator with a PhD in Neuroscience, explored what happens in the brain of a musician and found that playing an instrument can really change your brain.

All musicians play at least one instrument and it turns out this equals a full body workout. Collins found that a musician’s brain is completely engaged while he plays. The areas in the brain responsible for visual, motor and audio skills are all active, which means they get to “exercise” during the playing session. When they are in the recording studio, playing their instruments, musicians experience an increase in the activity of the brain’s bridge between the hemispheres, which is responsible for passing on signals. In other words, a musician’s brain is able to work faster, thus, it can find solutions faster. This also seems to enhance a musician’s creativity, as well as planning and attention to details.

All in one, playing a musical instrument enhances your brain’s cognitive and emotional functions.

Collins even made a video to explain the entire concept.

Music exposure can help babies develop their speaking skills

A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at how babies respond to music exposure. The team of researchers took 39 babies aged 9 months and divided them in two groups. The control group was given non-musical toys to play with, while the other group was given musical toys and exposed to music in a waltz-like meter. The choice of music was made because waltz is the hardest to understand for babies.

After four weeks of music exposure sessions, all the babies underwent brain scans to check the results of the experiment. The babies in the music group were found to have higher activity in the prefrontal and auditory regions, which are associated with recognizing patterns and making predictions.

The researchers concluded that music exposure helped the babies to recognize certain patterns, which can boost their ability to speak.