Nature magazine, on October 14, 1993, published an article written by F. H. Rauscher, G. L. Shaw and K. N. Ky, showing the results of a study that demonstrated that college students who listened to 10 minutes of Mozart before taking an IQ test scored better on a test. This opened up a world of possibilitites regarding the ability to manipulate intelligence.
If passive listening increases IQ, what would actually playing an instrument do to brain development? This question was the next step in the process of analyzing brain development.
Researchers at Boston College began the process of evaluating music lessons and intelligence. Their findings were reported to the nonprofit organization, the Dana Foundation: "Dr. Winner and colleagues have been studying children aged five to seven for the previous two and a half years. One group received music training, while a comparable group, based on verbal IQ scores, did not, enabling the researchers to determine the cognitive effects of music training.... After one year, children receiving music training have shown greater growth in manual dexterity and music perception skills."
It would appear that music training can expand a child's cognitive development, and that children who have long-term training may even see a physical change to their brains. In the same study researchers discovered that MRIs of children showed "that nine- to eleven-year-olds with an average of three to four years of music training significantly outperformed a control group in verbal and mathematical performance and had significantly more gray matter volume regionally pronounced in the sensorimotor cortex."
Music training seems to have a positive influence on children's development, even within the brain itself.
Ongoing research will no doubt provide additional information on the topic of music lessons and children's brain development. The same research project also provided this information from an article titled "Music May Aid Early Learning" in the Harvard Crimson. Writer Emma R. Carron reports that "(Dr.)Winner said that if it is proven that musical training improves cognition, the ways in which children are educated could be changed for the better. In the future, music may be an aid to teach other subject materials."
This important research could eventually lead to all children having music lessons starting at a young age and continuing throughout their school years.
There is much evidence to support the idea that music lessons can in fact, aid in the brain development of children. Parents may discover that in addition to enjoying improved brain development, children may also find themselves interested in a variety of music styles. Opening up children's minds to more experiences is always important, and that in itself can be rewarding.