Aside from developing lasting music preferences during adolescence, music training can lead to an increase in maturation of an adolescent’s brain. In a study done by the Brain Development Group, they studied the brain development of subjects ages 6-18 as they played musical instruments using MRI scans. It elaborates on how playing music can increase the rate of growth in an adolescent’s brain, specifically in the cortices of the brain.
I have always noticed in my life that the people at school who practiced some sort of musical instrument always seemed a little bit more mature than others. My sisters in particular grew up to be very mature while they were in high school as they had lots of intense music practice while they grew up.
The study shows that music training can influence the adolescent brain, causing it to mature much more quickly than others, but it doesn’t mean that it causes their brains to be better. This kind of training only increases that rate that the brain grows, not increasing the IQ of the adolescent. Overall, this study poses another interesting stance on how music can affect adolescents’ brains as they continue to grow.
Source: Hudziak JJ, Albaugh MD, Ducharme S, et al. Cortical Thickness Maturation and Duration of Music Training: Health-Promoting Activities Shape Brain Development. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2014;53(11):1153-1161.e2. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2014.06.015.
You’ve chosen a really interesting study! In light of what we have learned about the maturation of the cortex in the adolescent, I’m a little confused by “increase the rate of growth” comment. We have noticed in the MRI studies that the gray matter of the cortex actually peaks in early adolescence and then declines to a final “mature’ value. So does the musical training lead to an increase in gray matter or does it lead to a faster maturation/less gray matter? I also like that you introduced the caveat that there wasn’t evidence for the idea that the musical training changed aspects of intelligence. Thanks for this post!
KF