Yesterday, before students of lower levels, students returned to classes from high school: the high school students, high school, under the system in which they are enrolled. Or simply teenagers who, in the educational system are exposed or outside it, in seeking to define themselves generally prefer to use other things that your school.

One of those other things that identify or define the young, and certainly one of the most important is the music.

And yet, at least in Mexico, the high school level education suffers from precisely the subject of music. Perhaps because it is considered that was already sufficiently covered in previous levels (which usually false) or because it is considered that the benefits, amply demonstrated, music education exist only in childhood.

However, a study published July 20 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows that music education helps "develop skills that are critical to academic success" and "musical training during high school 'sharpening' brain development. "

Music and neural development

The study suggests that musical training accelerates neural development, particularly auditory perception and language skills.

"While music programs are often the first to be eliminated when schools have budget problems, our results highlight the importance of music in the curriculum of the high school," says Nina Kraus, lead author of the study and director of Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at the School of Communication at Northwestern University.

"While learning to play music not teach skills that seem directly relevant to most races, these results suggest that music can generate what educators call 'learning to learn'," adds Kraus said in a statement.

The study compared students who are involved in the school band and compares them with those who were enrolled in a program of physical exercise.

Throughout the three years of high school and the duration of the study, all students improved their skills related to spoken language, but the improvement was greater in those taking music class than those who did exercise.

It is known that the processing of small, very important for language skills, sonic detail is decreased in children who grow up in poverty, so the authors suggest that music education in adolescence may help reverse this deficiency.

"Our results support the notion that the adolescent brain is still receptive to musical training," wrote the paper's authors.

Music, to remove

The benefits of music beyond music education. Just listening is beneficial.

For example, last May was published in the journal Sports Medicine-Open certain playlists in no less than 70% adherence to therapy for rehabilitation of patients with heart problems. This happened if the tempo of the selected music was the same as that required patients to do their exercises.

A few days later, at the American Thoracic Society International Conference, data about how music helps "intubateds" who have been connected to a ventilator, because that helps them relax and reduce anxiety (measured as often presented heart) try to breathe without the machine.

And it has even seen that it can help certain patients with certain forms of epilepsy.

However, returning to teenagers, what they want is not only music, but appropriate it, which explains, according to a study done at the Aalto University in Finland, YouTube is the world's largest music service.

This first academic study attributes the success of YouTube video site, where the music is by far the most requested, to the possibility that the creations of popular musicians can be reused in many ways by users as YouTube promotes very While these recreations, says researcher Lassi A. Liikkanen.