What would you do if you heard that recent university research has shown that there is an activity which, if we do it, helps us all grow equally, enhances our memory, and improves our ability to learn languages?
What if you heard that by doing this activity, you could even prevent many brain diseases and psychological and emotional disorders? The only condition is that you must start before the age of seven.
Think about the vaccines you receive throughout your life. As children, we get vaccinated to stay protected from diseases and to be safeguarded against specific issues. However, the activity we are talking about not only is painless and does not involve any needles, but it is also immensely enjoyable from the very first moment.
You probably don’t expect to read about a nutritious substance or a magical compound on this page, nor about a diet that no one has yet discovered. Instead, we prescribe the oldest possible practice.
Music predates language, but the more we advance, the more we discover its benefits and functions. Today, with new methods and advanced tools, we can prove that children who learn music from an early age are better prepared for success in various fields.
Now we can demonstrate how early music education aids brain development. In the past two decades, neuroscientists studying the brain functions of musicians have found differences between the brains of musicians and non-musicians.
By studying individuals who have learned music formally, under the supervision of teachers and regularly, neuroscientists have discovered that music education simultaneously activates three areas of the brain:
The motor cortex, the visual cortex, and the auditory cortex.
Music education is akin to a form of brain exercise: it’s like taking your brain to the gym for a thorough workout.
Those who have learned music from a young age have a larger corpus callosum, which is the brain area connecting the two hemispheres.