"It is the most important research that has been carried out on the effects of playing an instrument on brain development ", this is how psychiatrists at the University of Vermont Medical College define the work they have just published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
Led by James Hudziak, the experts have analyzed the MRIs of 232 subjects between 6 and 18 years of age to search, above all, for significant alterations in the cerebral cortex: the thickening and thinning of this area are related to problems such as anxiety, depression, trouble concentrating, aggressiveness, and loss of impulse control.
First, they found something predictable: that musical practice affected neurons in the motor region, since it requires control and coordination of movements. But more important were the changes detected in the part of the cerebral cortex linked to "working memory, control of attention, organization and planning, inhibition of impulses and processing of emotions", as detailed by the authors of the study. Hudziak sums it up in one idea: a violin can help a child with psychological disorders more than a bottle of pills.
