15. Long-Term Benefits of Music Lessons

      A study published in The Journal of Neuroscience reported that an older adult who took music lessons as a child can process speech sounds better than adults who did not have music lessons as a child. The scientists looked at 44 healthy adults of 55 to 76 years. They measured the "electrical activity in a region of the brain that processes sound". The results showed that the participants that had 4 to 14 years of music lessons had quicker responses to sound corresponding to speech than those who did not have music lesson. Music lessons also holds benefits to the brain. Nina Kraus, a neuroscientist and author of the study, testifies and claims that she herself plays instruments. She also says that everyone should have good musical education as children.
    Overall, I do not believe this article effective. Its purpose is informative, yet it is very broad and vague. For instance, Sindya N. Bhanoo, the author of the selection, says that music lessons have "a postive effect on the brain" but she does not explain how or why. Although she complements the article with a modern and colorful image of an ear and a speech bubble, the picture itself is pretty straightforward and therefore, not very helpful to understand the subject further. I also think that the author could have added statistics in order to make the selection more reliable. One more aspect of the writing that got my attention was the lack of transitions, however, I do understand that this article is more targeted to be a fast read, not an in-depth analysis. Despite the broad statements, I liked the fact that the author still adds a direct quote from a reliable source (neuroscientist, Nina Kraus)Bhanoo uses good, yet simple vocabulary which allows more casual readers to understand the content. Yet, I cannot seem to overlook the fact that she seems to avoid describing and explaining the results and mentions more long-term benefits (it is in the name of the article after all).

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/science/long-term-benefits-of-music-lessons.html?src=me