The contribution of learning musical instruments to mental development at an early age has been proven many times. A newly published study has reiterated this fact. New research published in the journal Psychological Science revealed that people who learned to play a musical instrument as a child may have better thinking abilities later in life.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh used 366 participants in their research. 117 of the participants shared that they had experience playing a musical instrument. Most of them stated that they played musical instruments especially during childhood and adolescence. While the most played musical instrument was the piano, there were also accordion, guitar and violin among other instruments.
Better cognitive ability was seen in the instrument players:
All participants were participants in the comprehensive cohort study ‘Lothian Birth Cohort’. These people had shared their data by taking part in research on child development since their childhood. One of these studies was the standard cognitive ability test they performed at the age of 11.
Participants rejoined this research at age 70, which included questions on reasoning, spatial awareness, and numerical analysis. As a result of the test, the scientists found that people who learned a musical instrument during their youth had improved thinking skills in old age. These people showed greater lifetime improvement in cognitive ability testing than people with little or no musical instrument experience. Moreover, this situation was the same when the socio-economic status of the people, the education they received and their health status in old age were taken into account.
Not exactly ‘proof’ though:
Commenting on the research, however, emeritus Professor Ian Deary said, “We must emphasize that the association we found between playing an instrument and lifetime cognitive development is small and we cannot prove that the former causes the latter.” used his statements. However, he stated that these results are still worth following.
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