Does Childhood Music Training Improve Long-Term Verbal Memory?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revealed that the left planum temporale region of the human brain is larger in musicians than non-musicians.

In fact, studies show that adults who received music training before age 12 have a better memory for spoken words than adults who did not. Thus music training in childhood may indeed have long-term positive effects on verbal memory.

Greater Verbal Than Visual Memory

It is believed that this results from a change in cortical organization. The left temporal area in musicians appears to have a more developed cognitive function than the right temporal lobe. However, because it is believed that verbal memory is controlled mainly by the left temporal lobe, and visual memory by the right, adults with music training should have greater verbal - though not visual - memory than adults without music training.

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