Learning to play a musical instrument can change your brain, with a US review finding music training can lead to improved speech and foreign language skills.

掌握一门乐器能够使大脑发生变化。这是美国的一项最新研究发现，通过音乐训练还能够提高演讲和外语水平。

Although it has been suggested in the past that listening to Mozart or other classical music could make you smarter, there has been little evidence to show that music boosts brain power.

尽管过去就有人提到过听莫扎特或其他古典音乐可以让人变得更聪明，但是并没有足够的证据证明音乐能提高人的智商。

But a data-driven review by Northwestern University has pulled together research that links musical training to learning that spills over into skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal¹ emotion.

如今，美国西北大学的一项研究从数据出发，分析探讨了音乐训练对语言、演讲、记忆力、注意力甚至感情表达等能力的影响。

Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the neural² connections made during musical training also enhanced the brain for other aspects of human communication.

据研究人员妮娜·克劳斯介绍，他们的研究数据充分表明，音乐训练过程中所产生的神经元连接能增强大脑在人际沟通等方面的能力。

“ The effect of music training suggests that, akin³ to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development,”the researchers said in their study.

在研究报告中，这些研究人员这样说道：“与体育锻炼对身体健康的影响一样，音乐能够增强大脑活力，增强听觉的敏锐度。所以我们有必要重视音乐在个人发展中所起的作用。”

Kraus said learning musical sounds could enhance the brain’s ability to adapt and change and also enable the nervous system to provide a scaffolding of patterns that are important to learning.

克劳斯还说，学习声乐能够提高大脑的应变能力，也可以帮助神经系统建立起一个有利于学习的架构。

The study, published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, looked at the explosion of research in recent years focused on the effects of music training on the nervous system which could have strong implications for education.

该成果发表于《神经系统科学自然评论》上，对近几年该领域内的最新研究进行了回顾和分析。这些研究主要关注的是音乐训练对神经系统的影响及其可能会对教育产生的潜在影响。

The study found that playing an instrument primes the brain to choose what is relevant in a complex process that may involve reading or remembering a score, timing⁴ issues and coordination⁵ with other musicians.

研究发现，演奏乐器能帮助提升大脑从各种复杂的过程中分辨出有价值信息的能力，这一复杂的过程可能包括看谱、记谱，计时或与其他乐师配合等。

“A musician’s brain selectively enhances information-bearing elements in sound,” Kraus said in a statement. “In a beautiful interrelationship between sensory⁶ and cognitive⁷ processes, the nervous system makes associations between complex sounds and what they mean.”

克劳斯在一项声明中说：“音乐家的大脑能够有选择性地从声音中分辨出载有信息的元素。在感觉和认知的不断交互和融合中，神经系统能把复杂的声音和它们所表达的意思联系起来。”