Implication of Music and Brain Research

In recent years, we have witnessed an explosion of information about the brain. New imaging techniques have given neuroscientists the tools to peer into the brain in ways unimaginable just a few years ago. What they are learning is revolutionizing our understanding of this incredible neural machinery, and now they are able to ask--and answer--questions that will eventually unravel many mysteries of the mind. Among these mysteries is music. Why are human beings musical? How does music processing take place in the brain? Are there strategies we could uncover that would allow people to learn music more efficiently? Is there an optimal time for learning music? How is it that some cognitively impaired individuals can be so musically proficient? On and on go the questions we would like to have answered. For many music educators, obtaining information about recent discoveries involving music and the brain may be difficult. This is so because the reporting of neuromusical research is often polarized: either it appears in scientific journals in language that is too difficult for nonscientists to easily read and understand, or it appears in the popular press in such a watered-down fashion that actual facts may be distorted or obscured. The intent of this special focus issue of the Music Educators Journal is to provide current neuromusical information in a way that is at once accurate and accessible to music educators.