scholar benefits of aural training in music

Two main streams of studies have either focused on the comparison of adult musicians with non-musicians or on the effect of music learning on cognitive development in children. Over the last 20 years, there has been a considerable increase of interest in the relationship between such training and the maturation of cognitive skills. Music training involves many neurocognitive systems, like audition, vision, motor control and their integration. We conclude that a combination of family-related variables, early music experience, and pre-existent cognitive make-up is a likely explanation for the decision to enter a music curriculum at middle school. Finally, the decision to have a musical experience before entering middle school was more likely to occur when the cultural background of the families was a high one. However, there were no significant curriculum-by-time interactions. The longitudinal comparison of the four groups of students revealed that students from the Music curriculum had better performance in tests tackling General Cognitive Abilities, Visuospatial skills, and Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests. Using a Principal Component Analysis, all the cognitive measures were grouped in four high-order factors, reflecting (a) General Cognitive Abilities, (b) Speed of Linguistic Elaboration, (c) Accuracy in Reading and Memory tests, and (d) Visuospatial and numerical skills. 72 students belonged to a Music curriculum (30 with previous music experience and 42 without) and 56 belonged to a Standard curriculum (44 with prior music experience and 12 without). To address these issues in a highly ecological setting, we tested longitudinally 128 students of a Middle School in Milan, at the beginning of the first class and, 1 year later, at the beginning of the second class. However, this evidence is primarily based on retrospective studies this makes it difficult to determine whether a cognitive advantage is caused by the intensive music training, or it is instead a factor influencing the choice of starting a music curriculum. It is widely believed that intensive music training can boost cognitive and visuo-motor skills. Galeazzi, Orthopedic Institute Milano, Milan, Italy 6NeuroMi, Milan Center for Neuroscience, Milan, Italy.5Center of Developmental Neuropsychology, ASUR Marche, Pesaro, Italy.4SONG onlus – Sistema in Lombardia, Milan, Italy.

3Negri-Calasanzio Middle School, San Siro, Milan, Italy.

2Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy.

1Psychology Department, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.

Guasti 1 Marcello Gallucci 1 Marco Perugini 1 Patrizia Steca 1 Natale Adolfo Stucchi 1 Angelo Maffezzoli 3 Maria Majno 4 Manuela Berlingeri 2,5,6* Eraldo Paulesu 1,7* Desiré Carioti 1,2 Laura Danelli 1 Maria T.

Scholar benefits of aural training in music