Nina Kraus: Musical Experience Related to Auditory Processing

From time to time, I'd like to share the amazing work being done in the field of hearing.

Nina Kraus, Ph.D., is a scientist, inventor, musician, and professor at Northwestern University who studies the biology of auditory learning.   Her work is fascinating. 

She studies how our brains make sense of sound, and the influences in our lives that may enhance the exquisite processing capacity of our auditory brains.

Sounds are fleeting and constantly changing.  No other sensory system (including vision) can process stimuli as quickly.  Take speech: a single syllable word such as "drink" can have 5 phonemes within it, and if any one of them changes, so does the meaning of the word.  All along the auditory pathway from the ear through the brainstem and up into the higher cortical areas, there are steps of processing involving tuning in, filtering out, and attention.

Dr. Kraus has done studies both in the laboratory and in the community that explore some  powerful influences on auditory processing.  A major area of research looked at how musical experience "primes" the brain for more accurate processing.

One study, called the Harmony Project, looked at what happens when underserved children in Los Angeles, ages 6-9, were provided with musical training.  In summary, the results found that:

• Community music programs may spark neuroplasticity (brain changes) in children.
• It takes time to change the brain.  One year of training did not result in demonstrable brain change, but after two years biological sound processing and everyday listening skills were strengthened.
• Making music matters. Neuroplasicity was demonstrated only in children who actively played music; listening was not enough.

Another study involved high school students.  Results found that:

• Musical training as late as high school still had the potential to improve sound processing in the brain.
• Auditory enrichment such as music could be useful for children with developmental delays.
• The research suggests that musical training may counter some developmental problems.  It supports music as a community-based intervention to enrich sound processing and everyday communication.

Dr. Kraus's work studies neuro-biologic functions with great precision. Her work goes from the lab out into the world.  Using the principles of neuroscience to improve human communication, she advocates for best practices in education, health, and social policy.