← TED Talks Daily
How playing an instrument benefits your brain | Anita Collins artwork

How playing an instrument benefits your brain | Anita Collins

TED Talks Daily
04:47
Play episode

Show notes

When you listen to music, multiple areas of your brain become engaged and active. But when you actually play an instrument, that activity becomes more like a full-body brain workout. What's going on? Educator Anita Collins explains the fireworks that go off in musicians' brains when they play and examines some of the long-term positive effects of this mental workout. (Directed by Sharon Colman Graham, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Peter Gosling) Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from this show

More
  1. AI brain fry is real. Here’s what leaders can do | Julie Bedard

    Workers everywhere are quietly redesigning their jobs around AI, boosting productivity but also creating new kinds of problems. AI advisor Julie Bedard thinks she has a fix. She sh…

    11:25
  2. Why it's so hard to listen when you disagree | Emily Kasriel

    Do you avoid talking to people you disagree with? Author and mediator Emily Kasriel thinks you should try it out. She explains why engaging with ideas that bother you is one of the…

    13:32
  3. How to make parenting less lonely | Stacey McLachlan

    When parents first have kids, some risk entering “the loneliest decade,” where they fall out of touch with friends. Writer Stacey McLachlan decided to do something different when s…

    20:26
  4. Sunday Pick: Can AI really teach your kids? with Leah Belsky | from WorkLife with Molly Graham

    Technology has been promising to revolutionize education for a long time. Online learning, smartphones, and even asynchronous classes during COVID seemed for a while like they migh…

    51:09
  5. Why the future is human ... plus AI | Sal Khan and Esther Perel

    As AI reshapes work, school and love, what part of being human can't a machine take over? In a wide-ranging conversation, psychotherapist Esther Perel and TED's vision steward Sal…

    23:39
  6. The three words that saved my life | Blake Mycoskie

    On paper, Blake Mycoskie is a glowing success story: he founded TOMS Shoes, building a global brand that has given away more than 100 million pairs of shoes to children in need. Ye…

    18:48
Now Playing