Research has shown that music and the practice of music “embeds itself deeply into the nervous system” as psychologist Dr. Oliver Sacks writes.  Research in cognitive neuroscience has supported this statement by finding that music training causes the following structural and functional changes in the brain:

  • significantly more developed left planum temporales
  • larger anterior corpus callosum
  • increased cerebral cortex and left hemisphere activity
  • increased bilateral activity between the left and right hemispheres
  • greater word memory
  • superior ability for imagery
  • increased cerebral blood flow to the amygdale, frontal and pre-frontal cortex which are
    associated with reward, motivation, and emotion – sometimes called the “chill”s

So YES, music can make you more intelligent!