El Sistema and the Transformational Power of Music
Anne McIlroy, The Globe and Mail (July, 2011)
“People focus so much on cognitive benefits. I think there are some, but I don't think they are as large as people would like them to be," says Laurel Trainor, a scientist at McMaster University in Hamilton who studies music and the developing brain. "I think the social and emotional benefits are just enormous and we are just starting to comprehend that."
Daily Commercial News and Construction Record (August 2011)
"Scientists, researchers and musicians will study the physical and emotional reactions to music and how it affectes language, cognitive and social abilities. The two-storey-high theatre is the first of its kind in the world. Engineering it has presented unusual challenges."
“[Young] brains are getting wired to integrate the senses,” says Laurel Trainor, professor and director of the auditory development lab at McMaster University. She has found that even young babies can distinguish the difference between songs sung as lullabies and those used in play.
Laurel J. Trainor Discovery Psychology Lecture (November 2010)
McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind Director Laurel Trainor discusses musical rhythm, human movement, and the origins of rhythmic musical behaviour.
Expose Your Baby to Music
Parents Canada (August, 2010)
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Your child is probably not the next Mozart or even the next Justin Bieber. But don’t turn off the karaoke machine just yet. A musical environment plays an important rolein nurturing brain development, if not a future career.
"Learning music isn't going to take your child from average to a genius, but it can help her be a better learner," says Laurel Trainor, a professor of psychology, neuroscience, and behavior at McMaster University and director of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind in Ontario, Canada. Learning how to play music actually has an effect on how the brain gets wired when it comes to memory and attention, says Trainor.
Experts discuss the realities of whether music makes your child smarter, how it helps them emotionally, and get into how well we teach music both in school and out - which leads to the fundamental question: why does music have to be justified?
A Musical Illusion
Michael Schutz on Hamilton Life (January 2010)
A segment on Hamilton Life about Michael Schutz's music cognition research. This clip features a demonstration of the illusion, along with a discussion of the psychological principles behind it, touching on its musical applications.
Turn On, Tune In, Develop?
Phillip F. Schewe, Inside Science News Service (November, 2009)
"For most people music is an enjoyable, although momentary, form of entertainment. But for those who seriously practiced a musical instrument when they young, perhaps when they played in a school orchestra or even a rock band, the musical experience can be something more. Recent research shows that a strong correlation exists between musical training for children and certain other mental abilities."
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