syrinx

A research team at Vanderbilt University is releasing the results of their study into differences between classically trained musicians and non-musicians (wonder if it transfers to musicians without classical training?).

professionally trained musicians more effectively use a creative technique called divergent thinking, and also use both the left and the right sides of their frontal cortex more heavily than the average person

Interesting stuff...Would have been nice if Vanderbilt had a jazz track in their music school, to see if there were any differences between them and the classically trained musicians (not that jazz musicians don't have the same amount of classical training), and maybe some untrained rock or pop musicians.

tags: science brains musicians divergent thinking

I'd been meaning to read this book for a while. Finally got started on it recently, and then finished it while visiting some relatives that included 3-month old twins. Was able to verify some of the research first hand. Excellent reading, and I learned some interesting information about language acquisition that was new to me.

tags: books science childdevelopment brains learning