Music contributes to many facets of development

A document recently published by the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, entitled "The Benefits of Music Education" (The benefits of music education: an overview of current studies in neuroscience) confirms that music education provides children with many benefits in the short and long term. According to the results of several studies, compiled in this document, music promotes faster fluency in language and reading, increased ability to concentrate and helps develop emotional intelligence.

Many positive effects

Among the positive effects linked to music, we note in particular an increase in intelligence quotient, better development of learning and memorization mechanisms, better assimilation of information and better motor coordination. Plus, learning music helps the brain build strong neural circuits, which helps improve structure and function through a process called neuroplasticity.

Another very encouraging discovery is that the beneficial effects of music last over time. Indeed, musical training would delay the first symptoms of senile dementia and better compensate in the event of hearing loss. In fact, studies show that an older adult with hearing loss will be more able to identify sounds in a noisy environment if they have musical training.

Stimulate cognitive development

The use of technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) have enabled neuroscientists to gain a better understanding of how music acts on the brain, how it improves its function and promotes l 'learning. Music - playing an instrument or singing - has been shown to cause changes in brain activity, changes that stimulate cognitive development.

The document The benefits of music education: an overview of current studies in neuroscience, available in English version only, can be consulted on the website of the Royal Conservatory of Music.

In the same vein, researcher Jonathan Bolduc, associate member of the International Brain, Music and Sound Research Laboratory (BRAMS) of the University of Montreal, has also recently shown through his work that “musical activities promote the development of phonological awareness, that is, the skills to perceive, segment and manipulate the sound units of language, such as rhymes, syllables and phonemes. "