Boston Magazine: October 1995, Note Well: Childhood Music Lessons Yield Some Rewards That Parents Can't Hear

APA Monitor: July 1997, Musical studies Provide Clues to Brain Functions

Associated Press: November 9, 1998, Music May Help Neurological Therapy

LA Times, 1996, Brain Comes Alive to Sound of Music

Scholastic News (for kids) -- September 28, 1998 Does Music Make You Smarter?

Parade Magazine: June 14, 1998 Will Piano Lessons Make My Child Smarter?

Boston Globe: April 19, 1997, Quotes of Note

New York Times - Perfect Pitch Found on Left Side of the Brain

Washington Post: December 15, 1997 For Geeks, It's Music to Their Ears

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1996

Young Students Learning Library 1996 Science Yearbook, NY: Newfield, 1996

The Boston Globe, Health/Science, 1997

Harvard Gazette, 1997 and 2001

Los Angeles Times, 1998

USA Today, 1998

Harvard Medical School Alumni Bulletin, 1999

Discover Magazine, 2001

New York Times, Science TImes, 2001

Boston Globe, Health/Science, 2001

New York Times: Science Times section, May 16, 1995

The Mystery of Music: How it Works In the Brain

By: Sandra Blakeslee

Synopsis: Parallels between the evolution of language and music.

Quotes: "The ability to perceive and enjoy music is an inborn human trait." * "The first musical instrument was probably the human voice.  As language flourished, so did music, with different cultures inventing different types of resonators.  While language was used to transmit knowledge, music was used to promote social cohesion through shared tribal rituals." -- Dr. Mark Tramo

Boston Magazine: October 1995

Note Well: Childhood Music Lessons Yield Some Rewards That Parents Can't Hear

By: Tricia Gray

Synopsis: Musical structure and brain organization.

Quotes: "Music involves organizing information and organizing cognitive abilities," says Mark Tramo, a neurobiologist at Harvard Medical school. "All the frequencies that comprise sounds can be manipulated, bringing order.  If we expose someone to music they will encounter structures like octaves and scales, and they will be using their brain -- so when the task becomes going to school and learning long division, they may be more insightful because of their cognitive training."

APA Monitor (American Psychological Association): July 1997

Musical studies Provide Clues to Brain Functions

By: Beth Azar

Synopsis: Lateralization of musical faculties.

Quote: "The jury is still out," said Tramo.  "But it still looks like lateralization isn't as strong for music as it is for language.  Still it is fascinating that the so-called 'minor' hemisphere might play a leading role in certain aspects of music perception and cognition," Tramo said.

Associated Press: November 9, 1998

Music May Help Neurological Therapy

By: Jane E. Allen

Quote: "Undeniably, there is a biology of music," said Dr. Mark Jude Tramo, a neurobiologist at Harvard University Medical School. "Music is biologically part of a human life, as music is artistically part of a human life."

LA Times, 1996

Brain Comes Alive to Sound of Music

Quote: "There is no question that there is specialization in the brain for the processing of music," said Harvard neurobiologist Mark Jude Tramo.

Scholastic News (for kids) -- September 28, 1998

Does Music Make You Smarter?

By: Karen Fanning

Synopsis: Music and the development of cognitive abilities.

Quotes: Many of the same neurons that are used in music are also used in math, language, and thinking.  Scientists believe that learning how to play an instrument like the piano or drums will not only make you a musician, it may make you a better student.  "It's a lot like saying: If you exercise your body by doing calisthenics, you not only build your coordination, you also improve your ability to play football and tennis," says Mark Tramo.

Parade Magazine: June 14, 1998

Will Piano Lessons Make My Child Smarter?

Synopsis: Playing music may improve learning, memory, logic, and general creativity.

Quotes: "There's an overlap in the brain mechanism -- in the neurons used to process music, language, mathematics and abstract reasoning," says Dr. Mark Tramo, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School.  "We believe a handful of neural codes is used by the brain, so exercising the brain through music strengthens other cognitive skills.  It's a lot like saying, 'If you exercise your body by running, you enhance your ability not only to run but also to play soccer or basketball.'"

Boston Globe: April 19, 1997

Quotes of Note

Quote: "If you want to maximize your children's intellect, give them music lessons." -- Mark Tramo

New York Times:

Perfect Pitch Found on Left Side of the Brain

By: Sandra Blakeslee

Synopsis: Comment on possible hemispheric specializations for absolute pitch.

Quote: "Many researchers have assumed that bigger is better and tried to correlate structure and function," said Dr. Mark Tramo, a neuroscientist and Harvard Medical School.  But some argue that complex traits like language or music are embedded in microcircuits all over the brain.  The right hemisphere "does well with single word comprehension," Dr. Tramo said.  "But the extraordinary talent for music, language, or other complex human traits might be related to details of microcircuitry all over the brain," he said.

Washington Post: December 15, 1997

For Geeks, It's Music to Their Ears

By: Mark Leibovich

Synopsis: Music and intellect.

Quote: Theories abound as to why techies form bands.  The phenomenon even has a scientific basis, experts say.  "There is a great deal of overlap with the intellectual aspects of math and music," said Mark Tramo, a brain scientist at Harvard Medical School who has studied the effects of music on human cognition.

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