the brain, which could bring about cognitive advances as well," said Yunxin Wang of Beijing Normal University.

　　“Our results suggest it’s better to start musical training before seven, which agrees with what most piano teachers recommend,” she added. She hoped the results might help parents decide when was the best for their children to learn an instrument.

　　The brain’s cortex(皮层) plays a leading role in one’s abilities, from thought and language to memory and attention. The area matures rapidly in the early years of life, and its development could be affected more if a person starts musical training before it fully matures.

　　Wang studied 48 Chinese students aged between 19 and 21 who had received formal music training for at least a year sometime between the ages of 3 and 15. Each had a scan to measure the thickness of the brain’s cortex.

　　After considering sex and the number of years spent having music lessons, Wang found that musical training that started before seven appeared to thicken areas of the brain involved in language skills and executive function, which is a person’s ability to plan and accomplish tasks.

　　“We’re not sure why these changes occur, but a reasonable explanation is that early starters might depend more on hearing clues(线索) when learning music, since it might be more difficult for younger children to read music,” Wang said.

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