Wang studied 48 Han Chinese aged between 19 and 21 who had received formal music training for at least a year sometime between the ages of three and 15. Each had a magnetic resonance scan to measure the thickness of the cortex and the volume of grey matter in their brains.
After taking gender and the number of years spent having music lessons into account, Wang found that musical training that started before the age of seven appeared to thicken areas of the brain involved in language skills and executive function, which is a person's ability to plan and carry out tasks. She presented the results at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
"We're not sure why these changes arise, but a reasonable explanation is that early starters might rely more on auditory clues during learning music, since it might be more difficult for younger children to read music," Wang said.
The findings build on earlier work that suggests musical training before the age of seven can have a significant impact on the brain's development. Earlier this year, researchers at Concordia University in Montreal showed that people who took music lessons before seven years old had stronger connections between motor regions of the brain, which are involved in making movements, and the sensory areas.
Wang hopes to look at whether the age people start musical training has any meaningful impact on their cognitive skills as an adult, and on the rate at which their brain function declines with age. "As we know the brain is the executive organ of our mind, these changes might possibly reduce the ageing of the auditory system," she said.
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