Let's all learn piano—especially when we're young, it's a must!
Haebom
Alicja Olszewska from the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology in Poland recently published her research. Titled <Understanding functional brain reorganisation for naturalistic piano playing in novice pianists>, the study followed 24 people of various ages who had never played the piano, observing how their brain activity changed over the course of 26 weeks of piano lessons.
Understanding functional brain reorganisation for naturalistic piano playing in novice pianists.pdf4.08MB
Participants started with basic exercises like Hanon and Beyer, then practiced eight pieces that gradually increased in difficulty.
How Piano Learning Affects the Brain
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Increase in early brain activity: At the beginning of learning, areas of the brain involved in memory, sensory integration, and motor processing are especially active.
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Optimization of brain activity: As participants improved their piano skills, brain activity in the motor cortex decreased, which shows a process of brain optimization.
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Activity in auditory and motor cortex: Playing piano stimulates both the auditory cortex (which processes sound) and the motor cortex (responsible for planning and executing movements). During training, activity in the auditory cortex stayed about the same, while activity in the motor cortex typically decreased.
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Changes in activity in other brain regions: Early on, regions such as the cerebellum (for movement coordination), parietal cortex (sensory integration), hippocampus (memory), and basal ganglia (initiating and controlling voluntary movement) become more active. As training continues, activity in these regions also declines.
Alicja's research demonstrates that as people become more skilled at playing piano, their cognitive abilities as well as brain structure and function become more optimized. The study also found that in younger participants, increased piano proficiency leads to even more active and efficient brain activity.
Looking back, I wish I had practiced harder when my mother sent me to piano lessons as a child. I never made it to Czerny 100 or even 30, and just quit, using moving as an excuse. Now that I think about it, I realize that a lot of the wise people around me play the piano or other instruments. Maybe I should pick up an instrument and make a little music myself again.
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I post articles related to IT 💻, economy 💰, and humanities 🎭.
If you are curious about my thoughts, perspectives or interests, please subscribe.
haebom@kakao.com