Let the brain scan speak

Why learn music?

To be specific, why learn a music instrument?

A common thought is that learning music instrument makes a child "smarter".  Well, is it true?  Or is it a myth, or simply wishful thinking?

As former science researcher, a music teacher and a mother of three children, I want solid evidence.  Let's look at the results of a few recent clinical research.

The following articles from the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry support the hypothesis that music training does help improve brain functions and development/maturation in children and youth.

http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(14)00613-3/abstract
http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(14)00578-4/abstract


How about older people like us? Other studies show that people who play music instrument(s) throughout the whole life preserve more brain functions as they get older.  Isn't this good news?!

Here is a reference of a clinical study.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21463047?dopt=Abstract

So, learning music is a good thing for the brain. Even the brain scans can prove that!