from: Journal of Neuroscience (Okt. 2003 Vol. 23(27), S. 9240-9245)

Brain Structures Differ between Musicians and Non-Musicians

Christian Gaser and Gottfried Schlaug


Those of us with little or no aptitude (or, if you like, talent) for playing a musical instrument now have an excuse: our brains aren't built for it. Such is the finding of Gaser and Schlaug in this week's Journal. They found that a subject's musical experience, as a non-musician, an amateur, or a professional, was correlated with gray
matter volume in brain areas that are activated while reading and playing music, including auditory, visual-spatial, and motor areas. No wonder some people are better able to identify a tone without reference, read those funny little marks on a page and translate them, fingers flying, into a recognizable melody. But were they born that way, or is it the years of diligent practice that reshaped their cortex? The data suggest the latter: a voxel-by-voxel morphometric analysis showed that brain structural differences increased with the practice intensity and years of training of a musician. Might the musically adroit have some pre-existing disposition, however?
This remains to be seen. Some might argue that the subjects, right-handed male keyboardists, are not entirely representative of professional musicians, but the study seems to make one thing clear: your brain (and your talent) won't grow without practice. (the journal's abstract).

Some of you might like to know though the finding is not extremely surprising. Exercise a part of your body (like for instance your brain) and it grows (stronger). The new thing in the full article is the more exact localisation which brain parts are growing how much. And BTW, bad old phrenology has made a spectacular comeback during the last decade in a completely new shape.

Wolfgang