Re: Re: visualizing another instrument


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Posted by Wade, check this out on December 09, 2003 at 16:47:01:

In Reply to: Re: visualizing another instrument posted by Wade on December 08, 2003 at 15:55:36:

It is Tabor. I thought you might find this interesting:

When writing a paper for a class on learning disabilities, one of the books I was reading had cited several studies which all had determined that people with dyslexia have more trouble with spatial-temporal tasks than those without the condition. Being a musician and teacher, I picked up on the spatial-temporal link right away, since it is the particular kind of knowledge (IQ) that music is said to enhance. I'd be interested in what a tubist with dyslexia thinks about the correlations.

My theory is that intensive music training may help dyslexic people compensate for processing differences in the brain. While I am not one to think that music is a cure-all, I do have a basis for my theory. I have two close friends who are both dyslexic and musicians. Interestingly enough, neither were ever formally diagnosed with dyslexia, because they had adapted to school so well. One of these friends (who has two Master of Music degrees) didn’t even know she had the condition until she was in college. Einstein was also dyslexic, but was a very talented musician in addition being a brilliant physicist. Our brains strive to build connections, as someone who has a brain injury can often relearn tasks thought to be gone forever, perhaps Einstein was unconsciously expanding up on his spatial-temporal knowledge.

From the Music Educator’s National Conference, I have found research that shows exactly how music study can actively contribute to an aspect of brain development, which appears to be very important for understanding mathematical and language skills. The research seems to support my theory that the intense study of music is likely help people with dyslexia.

Researchers in Leipzig found that brain scans of musicians showed larger planum temporale (a brain region related to some reading skills) than those of non-musicians. They also found that the musicians had a thicker corpus callosum (the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two halves of the brain) than those of non-musicians, especially for those who had begun their training before the age of seven. — Schlaug, G., Jancke, L., Huang, Y., and Steinmetz, H. (1994). In vivo morphometry of interhem ispheric asymmetry and connectivity in musicians. In I. Deliege (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3d international conference for music perception and cognition (pp. 417-418). Liege, Belgium.

A University of California (Irvine) study showed that after eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers showed a 46% boost in their spatial reasoning IQ. — Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Ky and Wright, "Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship," University of California, Irvine, 1994 Researchers found that children given piano lessons significantly improved in their spatial- temporal IQ scores (important for some types of mathematical reasoning) compared to children who received computer lessons, casual singing, or no lessons. — Rauscher, F.H., Shaw, G.L., Levine, L.J., Wright, E.L., Dennis, W.R., and Newcomb, R. (1997) Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 19, 1-8.

Researchers found that lessons on song bells (a standard classroom instrument) led to significant improvement of spatial-temporal scores for three- and four-year-olds. — Gromko, J.E., and Poorman, A.S. (1998) The effect of music training on preschooler's spatial-temporal task performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 173-181.

In the Kindergarten classes of the school district of Kettle Moraine, Wisconsin, children who were given music instruction scored 48 percent higher on spatial-temporal skill tests than those who did not receive music training. —Rauscher, F.H., and Zupan, M.A. (1999). Classroom keyboard instruction improves kindergarten children's spatial-temporal performance: A field study. Manuscript in press, Early Childhood Research Quarterly.





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