Music "Primes" Brain

Here are a few snips from this story on research coming out of Northwestern University:

Musical instruction can "prime" the brain to improve human skills in language, speech, memory and attention, U.S. researchers say. . . 

An active engagement with musical sounds not only enhances neuroplasticity, Nina Kraus, director of Northwestern's Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory, said, but also creates permanent patterns important to all learning. . . 

"A musician's brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound," Kraus said, and "the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean."

These efficient sound-to-meaning connections are important not only for music but for other aspects of communication, she said.