Do you find yourself frequently forgetting things or misplacing where you put items?
Can you remember what you had for dinner last night? Is your thinking clear with the ability to think deeply for long periods of time?
If not, then you may need to build more myelin in your brain.
My-What?
Myelin is the stuff that surrounds the nerve fibers and neurons in your brain. Its main goal is to help it function better.
The more myelin you have in certain parts of your brain, the better it works overall. This means finding your misplaced car keys will suddenly get a whole lot easier.
How to Grow Myelin
You can build myelin in your brain very slowly through focused practice. Myelin is not something that builds quickly. It takes time and requires a lot of mind activation along the way.
Playing a certain note in a particular way on the clarinet over and over sends a specific signal to those nerve fibers repeatedly. Doing this millions of times helps to build more myelin which supports you in becoming the terrific musician you want to be anyways.
A lot more research needs to be done in this area, but it seems that myelin in the brain is the connection between intense, focused practice and outstanding musicians.
Music Changes Your Brain
When you practice music, the cerebral cortex of your brain will change. The area of your brain that hears tones and controls the fingers grows larger.
Now, who doesn’t want a bigger brain? As it turns out, focused practice not only keeps your brain young and healthy, it can also get you the bigger and better brain you’ve always in only 5 minutes a day.
How’s that for incentive to practice?
Thank you for this article. This extremely interesting because I have MS and I suffer from demyelination to a point I am severely disabled. I used to play piano and flute avidly. I am no longer able to play neither of the instruments. I wonder what you might suggest in my case. Also, I was wondering if there was some scientific studies to backup your claim. Thanks again.
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Hi Juri, piano would be a wonderful thing for you to get back into. If that is out of the question right now, try playing some music games in apps or testing yourself with music theory. Here is a great book that I recommend you read: This Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin. Mr. Levitin is a neuroscientist that explores the connection between music and science. It is really fantastic!