Here’s another interesting article that further validates the link between music and cognitive development:
He recently reported the results of a study in which children aged 4 to 6 learned about music – the basics of rhythm, pitch and melody – in a computer-based cognitive training program that involved games and cartoon characters. After 20 days of instruction, the children performed significantly better on a verbal IQ test compared to scores before the training.
A second group of children completed a similar program about the visual arts, learning about shape, colour, line dimension and perspective. But their scores on both verbal and spatial IQ tests didn’t budge.
Why would studying music lead to gains on verbal IQ? Music and language share brain processing and structure, Dr. Moreno says. “You don’t have to teach only English to improve in English,” he says.
Click here to read the full article in the Globe and Mail: A workout program for your brain.