Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory
Researchers have found the first evidence that young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year compared to children who do not receive musical training.
The findings, published today (20 September 2006) in the online edition of the journal Brain, show that not only do the brains of musically-trained children respond to music in a different way to those of the untrained children, but also that the training improves their memory as well. After one year the musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, visiospatial processing, mathematics and IQ.
The Canadian-based researchers reached these conclusions after measuring changes in brain responses to sounds in children aged between four and six. Over the period of a year they took four measurements in two groups of children - those taking Suzuki music lessons and those taking no musical training outside school - and found developmental changes over periods as short as four months. While previous studies have shown that older children given music lessons had greater improvements in IQ scores than children given drama lessons, this is the first study to identify these effects in brain-based measurements in young children.
High Hourly Air Pollution Levels More than Double Stroke Risk
High hourly levels of air pollution, more than double the risk of one type of stroke, suggests research published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Currently, the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular problems tends to be linked to the average daily amount of air pollution, rather than variations in hourly levels.
The researchers assessed data on stroke deaths in people aged 65 years and older, occurring between January 1990 and December 1994 in 13 major urban areas in Japan.
Number of older workers at record high in US
The number of older workers in the United States is growing faster than any other age group, making it harder for younger job seekers, a study reported on Wednesday.
U.S. workers over age 55 now number 24.6 million, a record high, according to the study of U.S. government labor data by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement consultancy. About a quarter of those are 65 or older.
“Employers are learning through experience that most if not all of the long-held common perceptions about older workers simply are not true,” Chief Executive John Challenger said in a statement, adding that older workers’ health, productivity and ability to learn are as good as their younger counterparts.
Smoking burns 2,500-pound hole in the pocket
Smokers pay hundreds of pounds a year in hidden costs on top of the price of their cigarettes, according to government research on Wednesday.
The NHS Smoking Helpline said higher health and life insurance premiums, smokers’ toothpaste and breath freshener inflate the cost of lighting up.
An average 20-a-day smoker can expect to pay 676 pounds a year on top of the 1,825 pounds cost of the cigarettes, creating a 2,500-pound annual bill.
Five nations start fund to help poor overcome AIDS
Five nations launched an initiative on Tuesday to raise at least $300 million next year to buy generic drugs at steep volume discounts to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries.
Leaders from France, Brazil, Britain, Norway and Chile, joined by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, unveiled UNITAID, a global purchasing body that will try to negotiate low prices with drug makers.
“None of this would be possible if it weren’t the ability UNITAID gives us ... to go out to the people who provide medicine and other life saving equipment and material and say ‘You have a guaranteed stream of payment, you will be promptly paid, now give us a higher volume and a lower profit margin,’” Clinton told a news conference at U.N. headquarters.
