Benefits

• A 2005 Stanford University study shows that playing music helps your brain understand language. Researcher John Gabrieli, a former Stanford psychology professor now at M.I.T., believes the study's promise is in finding that the brain is adaptable and that musical training can alter mental agility. Though the study focused on adults, Gabrieli believes it has implications for children who are slow at auditory processing and at risk of becoming poor readers.
  
  

Effects

• A University of Sarasota study showed that middle and high school students who participated in instrumental music scored significantly higher than their non-participating peers on standardized tests. University studies in Georgia and Texas found a correlation between the number of years of instrumental music study and achievement in science, math and language arts. McGill University found that pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly for students taking piano over a three-year period. They also found an increase in self-esteem in those students.
  
  

Other Research

• According to medicalnewstoday.com, a research journal called "Medical Science Monitor" has reported a study proving that playing a musical instrument can reverse multiple components of the human stress response on the genomic level. Don Campbell, in his book, "The Mozart Effect", shows how to use sound and music to stimulate memory and learning. Other studies show a link between music training and spatial-temporal reasoning and music and enhanced cognitive skills.