We all have an anecdotal understanding of the inherent benefits of listening to music on the mind and body. Well this TED talk by Anita Collins takes this to the next level. Collins presents some compelling information about the affects of playing music on the mind. In fact she argues that being a musician and the practice of music helps build a bridge in the area of the corpus colussum, the pathway between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. These hemispheres provide radically different services to us, one being considered rationale and analytical the other creative and more fluid. The very process of being a player actually increases memory by creating multi-index memory. That is, placing memories in ways that can be retrieved in several ways, like key words.

It is an abbreviated version of a longer talk but well worth the five minutes it takes to watch and listen. The graphics are compelling and the evidence is quite fascinating. Who knew that playing the Stratocaster could make you a better-rounded person in ways beyond the obvious?

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