That’s my takeaway from an article
by Janice Neumann which appeared in the Wednesday, October 2nd
edition of the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/site/ct-x-1002-music-reading-link-20130930,0,5831505
Her article starts rather
boldly, I thought, for a summary of a proper scientific article saying, “Playing
a musical instrument can have extraordinary cognitive and motor benefits,
possibly opening the door to improved reading and language ability, according
to a recent Northwestern University study.” (i.e. from the Auditory
Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern)
“Extraordinary cognitive and
motor benefits”? “Possible opening the door to improved reading and language ability”?
What happened to all the posturing, e.g. “this is only one study,” and other
caveats that usually positions an article like this?
The article says reports
that “Nina Kraus, who co-wrote the study with postdoctoral fellow Adam Tierney,
said past research showed a link between reading and rhythmic abilities but
focused more on the motor skills than auditory skills involved. Kraus said the
current study shows there is a link between how consistently the nervous system
responds to sound and rhythmic skill.”
Interested? Here’s a link to
a presentation by Kraus: http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/projects/music/music_video.html
And for those of you who've played a lot of music, here’s
a link to the dense scientific tome published in The Journal of Neuroscience: http://www.soc.northwestern.edu/brainvolts/documents/Tierney_Kraus_2013_JNeurosci_RC_Rythm.pdf
Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_22031789_human-brain-with-arms-and-legs-playing-a-guitar-learning-music-concepts.html'>fberti
/ 123RF Stock Photo</a>
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