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Does Music Make You Smarter?

What interests many parents is that musical training improves the development of the brain — that “music makes us smarter”. According to a study published by the UK’s largest music education body, 7 out of every 10 children say they presently play a musical instrument. Whether this figure (数字) shows that most parents do believe the statement, or whether the potential benefits of music are hard to ignore (忽视). Ongoing research looks for suggestive evidence proving that musical training may actually strengthen the so-called “smart skills”.

The relationship between music and memory has long been the subject of research. In the 2003 study by The Chinese University of Hong Kong were 90 boys between the ages of 6 and 15, half of whom had 1 to 5 years of musical training and half of whom had none at all. Each of them had a memory test, with the musically trained students recalling more words, and being able to memorize more words after 30 minutes. One year later, a follow-up study showed that those students who had continued training, as well as novices who had recently begun musical training, both showed improvement in retention. However, students who had stopped music practice fewer than three months after the first study showed no further improvement. These results suggest that music training might improve memory function.

There is also increasing evidence that musical training may result in structural changes to the brain. Noticeable differences have been found between the brains of musicians and non-musicians. The size of those areas of the musician’s brain connected with hearing and visuospatial abilities is larger. A 2014 study found that the part of the cortex (大脑皮层) was thicker in children who had taken musical training.

However, like many scientific studies, research into the benefits of music remains ongoing, with many different opinions. Some deny (否认) that music makes people smarter. Others think that people who are naturally gifted in the cognitive (认知的) functions are simply more likely to play musical instruments. It would therefore be premature (草率的) to state without any doubt that music makes people smarter. Whatever the truth behind the statement that “music makes us smarter”, it should eventually come second only to the fact that music is one of life’s greatest pleasures.