Music lessons Frisco TX provide benefits in the aging process by providing protection from memory loss, a decline in cognitive functioning and a reduced ability in verbal expression. In fact, these benefits are possible even if you haven’t played any music in years.
Music lessons can have an impressive impact on the functioning of the brain, building more neural connections. These additional links last indefinitely and are effective in reducing the declines in cognitive abilities that develop in senior years. The coordination and motor control that is practiced through music lessons provide a boost later in life to the functioning of the brain.
The effects of music lessons can actually be mapped. Harvard neurologist Gottfried Shlaug conducted a study in 2003 in which he discovered that there was more gray matter in the brains of adult professional musicians than in non-musicians. He also found that a year and a half of music lessons early in life led to improvements in auditory and motor skills.
According to Alison Balbag, a professional harpist and candidate for a Ph.D. in gerontology, "What's unique about playing an instrument is that it requires a wide array of brain regions and cognitive functions to work together simultaneously, in both right and left hemispheres of the brain." The brain is stimulated through musical training and the effects of these changes continue over decades.
While music training provided benefits regardless of when it takes place, the longer you play an instrument, the greater the effects on the brain. A study by Brenda Hanna-Pladdy published in 2011, looked at the effects of music training on 70 adults ranging in age from 60 to 83. The adults were divided by the amount of time they had studied music. The group of adults who had studied music the longest had the highest scores in naming objects, visuo-spatial and non-verbal memory and making adaptations to new information.
It’s never too late to attain the benefits provided my taking up music lessons says Jennifer Bugos, an assistant professor of music education at the University of South Florida, Tampa. "People often shy away from learning to play a musical instrument at a later age, but it's definitely possible to learn and play well into late adulthood.” Music training holds promise in helping aging adults to maintain and even develop new cognitive abilities. "Musical training seems to have a beneficial impact at whatever age you start. It contains all the components of a cognitive training program that sometimes are overlooked, and just as we work out our bodies, we should work out our minds."
For the best choices in music lessons Frisco Tx, come in and speak with us at Matt Burk Music Studio. We would be happy to speak with you about all of the benefits that our music training can give you. Call us at (469) 353-6100 today.
Music Lessons Frisco TX
Matt Burk Music Studio
1701 Legacy Drive, Ste. 150
Frisco, TX 75034
United States
(469) 353-6100