Do Musicians Have Better Brains?

by Crisanto Andrada Consultant

Music, whether playing or listening, has many health benefits. It improves mood, improves memory, reduces stress, lessens anxiety, improves exercise, eases pain, improves cognition, provides comfort, soothes premature babies, and so on. You can certainly feel a difference if music is included in your everyday life. It is believed that a musician who practices playing or singing regularly, has a better functioning brain. The simple reason could be because musicians are creative and creative mind when compared to an average mind is a winner. Playing any musical instrument involves doing lots of things at once. Different areas of the brain get into the act together. While playing music, we use fine motor skills controlled by the creative and analytic hemispheres of the brain. There is both language and maths involved here along with feeling, memory, and many more things. Playing music strengthens the ‘corpus callosum’ that connects the right and left sides of the brain allowing for communication between both hemispheres. It makes the person a great problem solvers and their memories unique.

Playing music is like a full-body workout for the brain. Working out has many health benefits too similar to playing a piece of good music. The numerous mental gains that you make by practicing an instrument don’t disappear easily. Some neuroscientists have observed musicians’ brains while they play hooked to EEGs. They have observed that a focussed regimen of musical practice can cause permanent changes in the neurological structures that can help people to perform numerous extra-musical tasks more quickly and efficiently for a lifetime.

The cognitive benefits of music are incredible as no other form of art, hobby or activity produce the same level of everlasting neurological benefits as music. Most importantly, these benefits are never out of reach. There is no standard age to pick up a musical instrument for the first time. This is why most schools are now making music as a part of a lesson from the very beginning as it helps a child to kill study boredom and promotes overall mental and physical wellbeing.

What are you waiting for? Pick up a musical instrument of your choice and start learning. Browse for the best quality musical instruments for sale online at Global Music. Whether you are a teenager or a middle-aged man, do not stop yourself from giving your musical journey a kick start. Get brainy while playing music.