Learning A New Language Enhances The Processing Of Music In Brain, New Study Finds

Brain News: A music-related hobby can enhance language skills and affect the processing of speech in the brain and vice-versa because the musical and linguistic functions of a developing brain are closely linked to each other.

Research Director Mari Tervaniemi from the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Educational Sciences in cooperation with researchers from the Beijing Normal University (BNU) and the University of Turku, investigated the link between musical and linguistic functions in a developing brain.

Researchers investigated the effects of music and foreign language training on auditory neurocognition in Chinese children aged 8–11 years. The team compared the brain responses associated with auditory processing before and after the training programs and also compared the data of children who attended a music training program with that of children who attended a similar program for the English language.

“The results demonstrated that both the music and the language program had an impact on the neural processing of auditory signals,” Tervaniemi says.

The findings revealed that learning a new language facilitated the children’s early auditory predictive brain processes significantly more than did the music program. The results support the theory that in a developing brain the musical and linguistic functions are closely linked. The new study showed that learning achievements extend from language acquisition to music.

To Know More You May Refer To:

Tervaniemi, M., Putkinen, V., Nie, P., Wang, C., Du, B., Lu, J., Li, S., Cowley, B. U., Tammi, T., & Tao, S. (2021). Improved auditory function caused by music versus foreign language training at school age: Is there a difference? Cerebral Cortex. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab194