Learn music, to be stronger in language

Do individuals who have musical ear have better predisposition than others in language learning? Try asking this question to various scientists and get a range of answers: yes, certainly, some answer, no, there is no link between the two, others argue.
For several years Mireille Besson, director of research at the Institute of Physiological and Cognitive Neuroscience, CNRS, Marseille, seeks to validate this assumption. In fact, this researcher posits that the basic innate is not only involved in learning languages. Thus, it is not necessarily born talent for languages, you become one. In support of this assertion, his team conducted experiments consisting in a pregnant woman listening to a piece of music for half an hour per day. Using aircraft operated by mangnéto encephalography recordings, it appeared that the fetus perceived changes in the magnetic field acting on the mother's womb.
Besson's team has also observed differences in anatomical structure between the brains of musicians (having been such a learning before the age of 10 years) and non-music lovers. "The area of representation of the fingers of the left hand is more important for instance in violinists," reports the researchers. Differences were also observed in the auditory cortex. The temporal area of the brain that handles auditory reception developing greater sensitivity to sounds in musicians training. Hence the assumption made by the researcher, that this particular sensitivity gives them a greater ability to receive other types of sounds, such as language.
Besson's team has also observed differences in anatomical structure between the brains of musicians (having been such a learning before the age of 10 years) and non-music lovers. "The area of representation of the fingers of the left hand is more important for instance in violinists," reports the researchers. Differences were also observed in the auditory cortex. The temporal area of the brain that handles auditory reception developing greater sensitivity to sounds in musicians training. Hence the assumption made by the researcher, that this particular sensitivity gives them a greater ability to receive other types of sounds, such as language.
1. Frontal Lobe; 2. Bilingualism enhances the density of gray matter left inferior parietal cortex; 3. parietal lobe; 4. occipital lobe; 6. Cervele; 7. The sensitivity of auditory reception area has increased among musicians; 8. Temporal Lobe.
To test this hypothesis, a study was conducted on two groups of ten, the first being composed of musicians and other non-music lovers. A first experiment was contacted both groups with small musical phrases, the melody was changed in a case raising a semitone a note and in another case a fifth tone. It appears that the musicians naturally better detect small variations, while the group is able to detect the grossest violations of the melody. The same experiment was then conducted extracted from children's books, including prosody was amended at the end of sentence phrases. Same conclusion: adult musicians detect twice the lambda auditor small variations in height (one of the acoustic parameters of prosody with the intensity and duration). The real-time recording of brain activity by EEG shows that positive changes are faster in musicians than in other.
Mireille Besson wanted to know if these results were comparable in children. Experiments have been conducted last summer from French aged 7 to 9 years and having followed the Suzuki method learning music since the age of 4 years on the one hand and non-musicians on the other hand . They have shown that aspiring musicians détectaient as well as adults deviations, both in the notes phrases. This detection takes place even in the latter case, between 200 and 400 milliseconds after the beginning of the word incriminated. "This shows that musicians are able to analyze in detail the properties of sounds; not only musical sounds, but also the sounds of language, "concludes the researcher CNRS.
Yet to validate this hypothesis in foreign languages. A student of Portuguese origin working in the team of Mr. Besson has taken on this task. "It seems that French musicians subjects better detect small variations in height in a foreign language that they ignore the non-musicians. "One area of research that should widen.
The mastery of two languages before adulthood causes functional changes in the brain. It strengthens particularly the density of gray matter in the left inferior parietal cortex. As is shown by a study recently published by the journal Nature (14 October 2004). And this learning occurs, the sooner the difference is obvious between bilingual and unilingual. British and Italian researchers have conducted studies with 25 British adults monolingual, 25 bilingual from an early age (before age 5) and 33 bilinguals who learned a second language later (between the ages of 10 and 15 years) then repeated the experience with Italians controlling or not fluent in English. Which identified this difference in gray matter between these three types of populations. And scientists conclude, rather than a genetic predisposition languages, too much gray matter, a change in the structure of the brain induced by learning a second language.