A little music training in childhood goes a long way in
improving how the brain functions in adulthood when it comes to
listening and the complex processing of sound, according to a
new Northwestern University study. The impact of music on the
brain has been a hot topic in science in the past decade. Now
Northwestern researchers for the first time have directly
examined what happens after children stop playing a musical
instrument after only a few years -- a common childhood
experience. Compared to peers with no musical training, adults
with one to five years of musical training as children had
enhanced brain responses to complex sounds, making them more
effective at pulling out the fundamental frequency of the sound
signal. The fundamental frequency, which is the lowest frequency
in sound, is crucial for speech and music perception, allowing
recognition of sounds in complex and noisy auditory
environments. "Thus, musical training as children makes better
listeners later in life," said Nina Kraus, the Hugh Kn