0.7 Music, biological evolution, and the brain  (Page 14/30)

Before discussing neurological studies, it is worth saying a few words about the effect of regular music lessons on the cognitive abilities of children, a topic of great public interest. This issue has been explored experimentally by Schellenberg (2004). He conducted a study in which six-year-old first-graders were randomly assigned to weekly keyboard lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, or no lessons for one year. Each child was tested twice on a standardized intelligence test: once before entering first grade, and once in the summer after first grade. This test had twelve subtests measuring a variety of nonmusical cognitive skills. Children in all groups showed IQ increases over time, as expected due to attending first grade, but those receiving music lessons gained significantly more IQ points than those taking drama or no lessons. The drama group, in contrast, outgained other groups in social skills, such as cooperating with peers. For further research on the possible cognitive benefits of drama training, see Goldstein et al., 2009-2010. Based on the fact that the IQ gains in the music groups were seen across a majority of the twelve subtests, Schellenberg argued that music training influences a variety of non-domain-specific skills (e.g., memorization, fine motor skills) or general mental processes relevant to many different cognitive tasks, such as executive function (the ability to organize mental tasks, control impulses, etc.) and abstract reasoning (see Schellenberg, 2006, for further details). Schellenberg (2006) is also recommended for its extensive discussion of the controversial “Mozart effect,” whereby passive music listening has short-lived effects on certain nonmusical cognitive tasks. Schellenberg’s findings support the view that regular engagement with music influences a variety of nonmusical brain functions.

4.1 music and the recovery of brain functions after stroke

A recent study by Särkämö and colleagues (2008) provides evidence that regular listening to music can aid in the recovery of brain functions following stroke. These authors studied 60 patients with left or right hemisphere middle cerebral artery stroke, Acute ischaemic MCA stroke in the left or right temporal, frontal, parietal, or subcortical brain regions, with no prior neurological or psychiatric diseases (mean participant age: 56 years). who were randomly assigned to one of three groups. A music group listened to one hour of self-selected music per day, a story group listened to one hour of self-selected stories per day, and a control group had no additional treatment. (All three groups received standard stroke therapy.) Music therapists assisted in providing portable audio players and audio materials and in encouraging patients to listen. The experimental interventions lasted for two months, beginning soon after stroke onset. All of the patients were assessed on seven nonmusical cognitive tasks and eight mood measures, once soon after stroke onset and then again at three and six months post-stroke. The cognitive tasks examined verbal memory, short-term memory, language, visuospatial cognition, focused attention, sustained attention, and executive functions. The mood measures examined tension, depression, irritability, vigor, fatigue, inertia, confusion, and forgetfulness. All tests were administered by people unaware of which group the patients were a part.