EARS: EYES:

- Auditory Cortex - Visual Cortex Spatial

- Temporal Lobe - Occipital Lobe - Parietal Lobe
- Right Hemisphere
- Cerebellum

Hands/Feet
- Primary Motor Cortex
- Prefrontal Cortex
- Cerebellum
The Helpful Sound
By: Ethel Guillermo
 Essential Question:

How does musical training

affect cognitive development?
 Thesis:

The concepts learned in musical

training can be beneficial for the
brain’s structure and function.
 3 Points to Prove

Musical training can

1. enhance neuroplasticity.

Musical training can

2. improve learning.

Musical training can

3. increase creativity.
Point #1

Musical training can

enhance neuroplasticity.
What is Neuroplasticity?

● Brain’s ability to alter due to change in environment

● Brain fully develops around age 25
○ Critical period of development: Ages 1-3
 “
“Playing a musical instrument is a multisensory
experience that creates emotions and motions...It has
the potential to change brain function and structure
when done over a long period of time”

”
- Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD of Harvard Medical
School
 Case Study #1
Yunxin Wang,
Beijing Normal University
of China
 ● 48 Han Chinese Adults (18-21 y/o)
Participants ● At least 1 year of musical training
(3-15y/o)

● Evaluated the volume of brain’s gray

Method matter and surface area

● Those who started earlier had stronger

Results function and language skills
● Before and after age 7
○ Thicker cortex = auditory processing
 Case Study #2

Julie Roy,
University of Montreal
 ● 15 musicians
Participants ○ 10-25 years of experience
● 15 nonmusicians

● Describe what they felt on their finger

Method while hearing sound

● Musicians were more successful

Results ○ Trained to use many senses
simultaneously
Point #2

Musical training can

improve learning.
3 Types of Learning Styles

1. Auditory
2. Visual
3. Kinesthetic
 “
Music training imposes a high
working-memory load. That can be a good
thing, in that it helps [musicians] expand
[their] working memory capacity.

”
- William Klemm, Ph.D
 Case Study #3

Nina Kraus,
Northwestern University
Participants ● Children in the 1st or 2nd grade who
lived in impoverished areas

● Half of the participants were part of the

Method Harmony Project
● Other half received no musical training

● Reading scores varied among both groups

Results ● Faster and more precise neural responses
○ Better focus
 Case Study #4

Edward S. Lisk,
Clinician and conductor
● Music is not only for entertainment
● Fosters creativity
● Using many senses simultaneously
● Experience multiple expressions

“The foundation for comprehension is enhanced

significantly through the fine art of music by
developing a child’s critical listening and thinking
skills.”
- Lisk
● Incorporate musical literature as an
academic component
○ Band/Orchestra/Chorus: Academic & Why
○ The Language of Music, Emotion &
Expression
○ The World of Music: Lifelong Learning
○ Imagining and Creating Through Musical
Sounds
● Goal: apply musical learnings to other
core subjects
Point #3

Musical training can

increase creativity.
What is Improvisation?
 Parag Chordia, director of the Music
● Combine music and core subjects to Intelligence Lab at Georgia Tech
foster creativity

“Creativity is something that we all have inside of us

and what it’s all about is finding out, how do we unlock
that creativity.”
- Chordia

● Sing into phone

● App will add auto
tune and beat
● Not everyone can be a
musician
● Listening to music can
influence creativity
 Case Study #5

Researchers
from the Netherlands
 ● Complete creativity exercises
Method ○ Silent setting
○ Listened to classical music
(happy, calm, sad)

● Happy music led to higher score on

Results divergent thinking

“Listening to happy music increases performance on overall

divergent thinking...suggesting that it enhances the cognitive
flexibility needed to come up with innovative solutions.”
- Suttie
Why I Chose This Topic
 NEXT STEP

● Volunteer with HYS

● HYS mission
○ Provide learning environment for
youth
 Summary
Playing a musical instrument involves
many mental processes

What you learn musically can be applied

to other subjects

It’s not too late for you to learn a musical

instrument!

Support music programs!