As a musician who has performed various pieces of Saint-Saens, who was one of the composers which Zell Miller planned to include in his compilation tape, this topic caught my attention. I can hardly recall the number of times I have heard statements made to me by past directors and conductors on how having instrumental musical talent promotes cognitive function and helps reduce the chance of Alzheimer’s Dementia. While pieces such as “Moon River” are enjoyable and in fact soothing, Governor Miller, who claimed to have had extensive research and personal experience with the connection between music and child development, really should have better examined the experimental designs of some of these studies. The 1993 study performed by Rauscher et al. attempted to prove the causal relationship between musical activity and spatial reasoning based on the idea musical activity and complex cognitive functions share inherent neural firing patterns throughout the cortex. They tested this hypothesis on 36 undergraduate students specializing in psychology. This marks Miller’s first flaw in his utilization of this study: the study was not conducted on babies or infants, but was conducted on undergrad psychology students. This means that the obtained results would not be generalizable to Miller’s intended population. Statistical analyses revealed students who listened to Mozart Sonatas did exhibit improvement in spatial reasoning tasks. On the other hand, one result they did fine was that students who were subject to both silence and Mozart Sonata exhibited no significant day-to-day improvement. This finding really does not promote conformation of the hypothesis, as it just shows how Mozart’s Sonatas only facilitate spatial task improvements when participants are exposed to them every time they perform a spatial task. The researchers also experimented on how music could improve short term memory, which they were unable to confirm, probably as the prefrontal cortex, which is underdeveloped in most undergraduates, plays a role in this. They also found preschoolers who had music lessons performed better on object assembly tests. One point made in the research article touched on how music training enhances pattern developments of neuron groups, which appears to be a valid point as it reflects the idea of long-term potentiation. Overall, one statement made in the conclusion reflects my opinion on if Miller’s idea was a good one or not. They state their hopes of integrating music training into schools, as the effect of long-term musical exposure is what appeared to promote the most improvement. I personally believe that music very well affects cognitive performance, but only when someone is repeatedly exposed to musical learning and training for long periods of time, in the same way musicians are for example. Cognitive functions are strengthened best with repeated exposure (promotion of long-term potentiation) throughout one’s lifetime. One final thing to note is that Miller’s idea does not really follow the privacy clause dictated by the 14th amendment. It is unlikely every parent agrees with Miller or the research used by Miller. What is likely is not every parent would appreciate the state attempting to convince them of how best to parent. At the end of the day, it is not the decision of the state to decide what is most helpful for child development, as this is the private right of the parents, not to mention every child is different.
