Is there a connection between music and language? According to recent studies, the answer is yes: Music helps develop certain language abilities in the brain.
A study from Northwestern University shows that playing a musical instrument can improve a person's hearing ability. As a part of the study, two groups of people listened to a person talking in a noisy room. The people in the first group were musicians, while those in the second group had no musical training. The musicians were found to be able to hear the talking person more clearly.
Musicians hear better, says study leader Nina Kraus, because they learn to pay attention to certain sounds. For example, when the violinists play in an orchestra（管弦乐队）, they must listen closely to what they are playing and ignore(忽视)the other sounds. In this way, musicians can hear certain sounds better, even in a room with lots of noise.
Gotfried Schlaug, a doctor at Harvard Medical School, works with stroke(中风)patients.
Because of their illness, these people cannot say their names, addresses, or other information normally. However, they can till sing. Dr. Schlaug was surprised to find singing words helped his patients finally speak. Why does this work? Schlaug isn't sure. Music seems to be able to make different parts of the brain active, including the bad parts. In some way, this helps patients use those parts of the brain again.
So music is not only enjoyable, but also good for us in many other ways. Playing an instrument or singing, says Nina Kraus, can help us do better in school and keep our brain sharp as we get older.
