Childhood Music Lessons May Offset Neural Timing Delays in Older Adults

摘要

We often hear that learning to play a musical instrument is "good for us," benefitting academic performance, language development, and other skills, but do these advantages extend to better hearing? Do they functionally remodel our nervous system to improve communication? We know that older musicians who have played an instrument throughout their lives have enhanced auditory abilities compared with nonmusicians, both on behavioral measures (PLoS One 2011;6[5]:e18082) and electrophysiologic measures (Neurobiol Aging 2012;33[7]:1483,e1 -1483.e4; Front Aging Neuroses 2012;4:3Q). But what about those of us who played music from the elementary through high school years and then gradually stopped as life got busy? Can childhood music lessons affect the way we process sound as older adults?