There are many studies to date that show that musical training in childhood Improves children's brain development and skills when acquiring and processing language.
But new research carried out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has taken another step, deepening the effects it has for children in early childhood education learn to play the piano. According to the researchers, small pianists would have greater linguistic abilities than other children their age, being able to distinguish different tones and discriminate between spoken words.
Learning to play the piano helps children read
Studies to date had shown that, on average, people with musical training perform better in reading comprehension tasks, rapid auditory processing and ability to distinguish speech from background noise. But most of these studies have been done with adults who had received musical training as children.
That is why a group of American researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with experts from the University of Beijing, have decided to carry out an experiment to measure, randomly, the effects that music has on children, and more specifically piano studies.
For it They selected 74 children between four and five years of age, who spoke would send as their mother tongue. These children were divided into three large groups:
- One group received 45-minute piano lessons three times a week.
- Another group received additional reading classes during the same period of time.
- And a third group did not receive either intervention.
After six months of study, the researchers evaluated the language ability of the children to discriminate words based on differences in vowels, consonants and tone (many Mandarin words differ only in tone).
Children who had received piano lessons showed a significant advantage over those who had received extra reading classes when discriminating words that differ in a consonant.Keep in mind that, generally, better word discrimination is associated with better phonological awareness, which in turn is one of the most important keys when learning to read.
The researchers also used electroencephalography to measure children's brain activity. And they found that those who had received musical training responded better than the rest when they heard a series of different tones, which translates into a better distinction of the different words and, therefore, in a greater ease in language acquisition.
"Young children studying piano seem more easily recognize the differences between sounds, than those who have received additional reading classes. Therefore, it is not better for schools to invest in extra classes and get rid of art education, nor is it for children, as has been seen "- the researchers conclude.
With regard to attention span, working memory and IQ, researchers have not found significant differences between the three groups of students, so they suggest that piano lessons do not provide special benefits in the general cognitive function of children.
"Pianist children do not differ from the rest when it comes to broader cognitive measurements, but show significant improvements in word discrimination, particularly in consonants"More musical training in schools
In any case, either analyzing the results that this study has produced, like many others who have also echoed on occasion, The benefits of music in children are indisputable.
Therefore, researchers expect schools to take their students' musical training more seriously and do not disappear from educational programs, as is already happening in many schools around the world.
"If children who received musical training had better results than children who received additional academic training, it is sufficient to justify that in schools you have to keep betting on music"- Judgment Robert Desimone, director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT and lead author of the study.
Depress now wait deepen the neurological changes caused by musical training. One way to do this would be to perform an electroencephalography after an intense music class to see how the child's brain activity has been altered.
We will be very attentive to this new research project to inform you of the conclusions.
Via EurekAlert
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