London - If you once found yourself forced to spend hours slaving over scales and arpeggios, then this latest discovery should come as music to your ears.
Because a study has discovered that learning to play an instrument in childhood can improve brain function and hearing – even if you gave up 40 years ago.
A research team from Northwestern University, in the US state of Illinois, looked at how quickly the brain makes sense of sound.
They found that the longer the adults had spent learning a musical instrument in their youth, the faster the brain cells – or neurons – responded to noise. Even adults who hadn’t played a musical instrument for nearly 40 years benefited from the hours they had spent practising decades earlier.
The quicker the brain processes the sound, the easier it will be to hear a conversation in a busy bar or restaurant, or to hear clearly while talking on the phone.
The report, in The Journal of Neuroscience, said: “This suggests the importance of music for healthy ageing decades from now.” - Daily Mail