Making music 'is good for the brain'

Encouraging your child to become a musician could have a positive effect on their mental development, a new study suggests.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois stated that the human brain cannot process every stimulus to which it is exposed from second to second.

As a result, it must be able to "selectively enhance" what it believes is relevant at any given time.

According to scientists at the university, learning a musical instrument can aid the development of this key skill.

Dr Nina Kraus, the lead researcher behind the study, said: "A musician's brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound.

"The nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean."

She added that this is a "beautiful interrelationship" between a person's sensory and cognitive processes.

The study also showed that if youngsters learn to play an instrument, they tend to have a superior reading ability and vocabulary than their non-musical peers.

This comes after scientists at the Institute of Education found that electronic instruments such as keyboards are becoming increasingly popular with children.

Product category: Guitars, Synthesizers,
Drums, Pianos