今日の記事

[AOTANI, Masayasu]

Musical Training Found Important for Communications Skills

Also: How sleeping for a few minutes during the day can improve your health. Transcript of radio broadcast:

22 October 2007

 

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I'm Bob Doughty. 

 

And I'm Pat Bodnar.  This week, we will tell about a new finding about the value of musical training.  We will also tell how a short rest during the day can help your heart.  And, we tell about an American law that protects all kinds of plants and wildlife. 

 

American scientists say musical training seems to improve communication skills.  They found that (2) developing musical skills involves the same process in the brain as learning how to speak.  The scientists say that could help children with learning disabilities.

 

Nina Kraus is a neurobiologist at Northwestern University in Illinois.  She says musical training involves putting together different kinds of information.  She says the process involves hearing music, looking at musical notes, touching an instrument and watching other musicians.  She says the process is not much different from learning how to speak.  Both involve different senses.

 

Professor Krauss says musical training and learning to speak each make us think about what we are doing.  She says speech and music pass through a structure of the nervous system called the brain stem.  The brain stem controls our ability to hear. 

 

Until recently, experts have thought the brain stem could not be developed or changed.  But Professor Krauss and her team found that musical training can improve a person's brain stem activity.  Their study was reported in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences. 

 

The study involved individuals with different levels of musical ability.  They were asked to wear an electrical device that measures brain activity.  The Individuals wore the electrode while they watched a video of someone speaking and a person playing a musical instrument -- the cello.  Professor Krauss says cellos have sound qualities similar to some of the sounds that are important with speech. 

 

The study found that the more years of training people had, the more sensitive they were to the sound and beat of the music.  Those who were involved in musical activities were the same people in whom (3) the improvement of sensory events was the strongest. 

Professor Kraus says the study shows the importance of musical training to children with learning disabilities.  She says using music to improve listening skills could mean they hear sentences and better understand facial expressions.

(3’57”)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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