Musicians have Advantages with Memory

People try all different things when trying to boost brain power.  Some use the brain app called Luminosity, some play memory games.  However, have you ever considered picking up a musical instrument? Jo-Michael Scheibe Research indicates that musicians have better language processing skills and enhanced working memory in comparison to non-musicians.  This means they may have a greater ability to process new information and synthesize it in their already established knowledge.  A newer study now shows that musicians may also have the ability to store knowledge in their long-term memory better than non-musicians in addition to their working memory. Researches from the University of Texas at Arlington measured electrical activity of neurons in the brains of 14 musicians.  These musicians had been studying classical music for 15 years, at minimum. The participants played memory games with words and pictures, while hooked up to an EEG, an electroencephalography, a technology that records processing differences in the frontal and temporal lobes.  The memory games tested both working and long-term memory.  In previous research, the musicians scored higher than non-musicians on the working memory tasks.  In this test, the musicians scored higher in the tests of long-term memory, as well as the test for pictures. While it is unknown why musicians have this added strength in long-term memory, researchers speculated that reading music is almost like training to become more efficient at processing visual cues. Can musical training be a treatment for those struggling with cognitive challenges?  Dr. Heekyeong Park, a psychologist at UT Arlington wonders the same.  Dr. Park was also the lead author for the study.