prq Health JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE of Michigan DETROIT JEWISH NEWS J Leine ENINIZIE Music Lessons: Good For The Brain PRESENTS ZVI HERSH WEINREB, PH.D. A nationally recognized speaker on family life issues and spirituality who will present two enriching, informative workshops on *tAIG A HO Monday, September 22, 1997 Agency for Jewish EducatiO SUSAN DUERKSEN Copley News Service IV *th rows of little key- boards lined up neat as a newly planted garden, Mrs. Dobbs' first-grade music class is growing synapses. "Every little finger takes a place," Marlene Dobbs announces as she walks the rows. "OK, let's play our first-finger C, now second-finger D. No, second finger, honey. That's right." Seven budding musicians struggle to control their disobedient fingers, to hit the right keys in the right sequence. Through headphones, each child gath- ers the auditory fruits of his or her individual efforts. 21550 W. Twelve Mile Road Southfield (located between Evergreen and Lahser) Contact Betty Barach at (248) 559-1500 to make your reservations • • • • • aring for the 0°4 cs, Soul riteractive Workshop for Caregivers Tuesday, September 23, 1997 9:00-11:OOam Breakfast (Jewish dietary laws observed) Fleischman Residence 6710 W. Maple West Bloomfield (located on the Jewish Community Campus) Contact Margot Parr at (248) 661-2999 to make your reservations These programs are FREE of CHARGE Make your reservation today! Marlene Dobbs helps DeAngelo De Witt through a tune. As notes on paper are translated to finger movements and then to a pleas- ing tune, each young brain in the room is building connections that researchers say will do much more than remember the scales. Music-making at a tender age, some scientists believe, creates and sharpens synapses between neurons in preparation for a lifetime of recognizing symbols, judging distances, solving problems and, generally, thinking. A small but growing collection of scientific study backs up that theory, suggesting that early music exposure, like Dobbs' music magnet class in San Diego, may be one of the best ways to bulk up the intellectual capacity of a developing brain. The brain responds readily to music, scientists are finding, because it is set up from birth to do so. "There's incredibly strong evidence that music has a deep biological basis," said Norman Weinberger, a University of California at Irvine neuroscientist who compiles international research on music and the brain. "Human infants have musical competencies far beyond what anybody thought." Susan Duerksen writes for Copley Collaborative Agencies: 9/19 1997 1,30 Young Israel Council of Metropolitan Detroit Midrasha/Agency for Jewish Education News Service. Babies are born with an innate capacity to understand music, a few recent studies have indicated. Music appreciation probably evolved as a way for parents to communicate emotion to infants and to get and hold their attention, said Sandra Trehub, a psy- chologist and music researcher at the University of Toronto. "You can't find a culture where peo- ple don't sing to infants," she said. "It's something that seems to engage infants." That natural attraction to music could make it a key tool for learning. "Can you think of an activity for children that requires this much brain work and that they enjoy so much?" asks Dr. Mark Tramo, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. "Music, you've got to say, it's fun. But it's not frivolous." Especially before age 3 — and to a lesser degree from ages 3 to 10 — children's brains are being molded and sharpened by their experiences. If the brain is used repeatedly for certain tasks, the connections necessary for that work are forged and strength- ened. If the stimulation is absent, those unused connections may fade away. Playing and listening to music are now thought to stimulate many brain functions that apply widely to nonmu- sical tasks, Tramo said. While music training apparently builds up specific segments of the brain, he said it also imparts general skills to higher brain mechanisms that control many func- tions. But while a few studies have pro- vided some evidence that music can boost brain power, the scientific proof is lagging behind the parental advice trumpeted by some magazines, books and television shows. For example, no study to date backs up anchorwoman Katie Couric's pronouncement on the April 15 "Today" show that, "A little music apparently does wonders for your child's IQ." While researchers say signs point to some intellectual benefit from music training, they need to do more experi- ments to determine how much benefit, what type, how long it lasts and whether just listening to music also enhances brain power. So far, the scientists have reached two solid conclusions about the effects of music on young brains: a) Stimulation in general is good for brains, and b) Music can't hurt. L7/ \ r_ \_/