The%20Effect%20of%20Music%20on%20Children

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The Effect of Music on ChildrensBrain and
Cognitive Development

• Gottfried Schlaug Ellen Winner
• Dept. of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
  Center and Harvard Medical School
• Dept. of Psychology, Boston College
• and Harvard Graduate School of Education

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER
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3 Questions

• Does music learning cause structural changes in
  childrens brains?
• Does music learning lead to improvement in
  
• childrens spatial thinking and in
  mathematics?
• Is improvement in spatial and/or math reasoning
  
• related to brain changes?

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Musicians brains are different
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Corpus Callosum
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Your Brain on Music
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Is it Nature, Nurture, or both? A longitudinal
study is the only way to find out.

• We need to study children before they begin and
  while they are learning music.
• We will compare groups of children learning music
  at varying levels of time commitment.

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The Mozart Effect

• Previous studies have shown that after listening
  to the music of Mozart, adults score higher on
  spatial tasks like this paper folding test.
• However, this effect is
• short lived.

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But other studies have shown that music
training has positive, long-term effects on
childrens cognition.This 3-year study will
measure those effects in three ways annual
cognitive, math music testing journal of
activities annual non-invasive MRI scan
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Wild claims have been made by the media but...
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Object Assembly Test

• ...it is true
• that children who study music solve puzzles of
  this kind better than those who have not studied
  music.

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Math

• Based on a small number of studies, there is also
  some evidence that children who study music may
  improve in math.

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Unanswered question

• When children improve in
• spatial reasoning and in math,
• are these improvements related to
• structural brain changes?
• ?

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Families who join our study agree to

• Annual cognitive, math and music testing at their
  childs school, music school or at
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Annual non-invasive MRI scans at
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
• Keep a weekly record of childs musical
  activities or instrumental practice and/or other
  extra-curricular activities

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What is an MRI?

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• MRI is non-invasive and completely safe.
• There is no radiation whatsoever.
• The MRI will take about 20-30 minutes to complete
  both structural and functional scanning.
• While they are in the scanner, children will
  listen and respond to music in segments of
  approximately 5 minutes each.
• When they leave, children will be given a CD with
  images of their brain.

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Why Participate?

• Find out how music learning affects
• your childs development
• Track your child brain growth and
• cognitive development
• Help gather scientific evidence to
• support music in our schools
• Receive pictures of your childs
• developing brain
• Receive a small stipend for your child
• each time s/he is scanned