Steinway & Sonsアメリカのサイトに掲載されていたニュース記事がとても興味深かったのでご紹介します。アドレスは以下のとおり。

http://www.steinway.com/news/articles/piano-for-body-mind-and-soul/

Chromeに翻訳させたところ、とても理解できる日本語ではなかったので、要点を抜粋して訳してみました。本当に記事として訳そうとすると難しいのでほとんど箇条書きですが、お役に立てれば幸いです。最後に一応英語も添付しておきます。いつかサイト上から記事がなくなるかもしれないので。

以下、記事より抜粋、和訳。

身体的な利点

ハワイ大学のハーヴェイ教授による発表
定期的な音楽の訓練は生理的な利益をもたらすことが学会で発表された。
ピアノレッスンと訓練は成人の健康改善に役立つ。
子供たちにとっては運動能力に磨きをかけることも明確な恩恵であることがわかっている。
小脳を活発化させ脳卒中患者の言語障害も改善させる。
アンチエイジングの効果・・・骨粗鬆症、体力、生殖機能、筋力、各部の痛みなど。

ゲイナー氏による著書Sounds of Healing
不安の軽減、心拍数の安定、心合併症、血圧、免疫などに好影響

認識と知力を活発化させる

空間的知能や数学の分野で使用する脳の機能に影響を与える。
子供のころからピアノを続けている子は、高校の学力テストで高得点を得る傾向にある。
医学部へ合格した学生の6割以上は音楽を学んでいた。

トロント大学のシェレンバーグウジは132人の小学1年生を4つのグループに分け、歌のレッスン、演劇のレッスン、ピアノレッスン、そしてレッスンなしという放課後の過ごし方を割り当てた。生徒たちのIQを年度末に検査したところ、ピアノレッスンを受けた生徒のIQは7ポイント上昇したが、それ以外の生徒は4.25が最大であった。ピアノレッスンによる教育では長時間の集中が必要であり、結果IQが上昇するのではと結論付けた。

心理的なアドバンテージ
音楽の創造に関わる者は心配、孤独感､絶望感の経験が少ないことがわかっている。

ビットマン氏による実験
32人のボランティアのストレスレベルを計測。
難解なパズルを組み立てさせ、モチベーションを上げるために賞金をつける。
終了後さまざまな方法でリラックスさせる・・・雑誌を読んだり、ピアノを弾いたり。
採血し、45のストレスに関する遺伝子の活動を検査・・・ピアノを弾いた人が回復が早い。

ビットマン氏「音楽によるレクリエーションは食生活や運動と同じようにストレス軽減活動として役立つ」

さらに労働倫理、勤勉、創造力、自立、粘り強さを増加させる。

以下英文記事。

Piano for Body, Mind and Soul
There has always been a recognized trinity between the mind, the body, and the therapeutic qualities of music. And the piano, specifically, has been a long-recognized source of remedy for those seeking escape and creative expression. But recent years have also offered a wealth of scientific studies that demonstrate our instincts have always been correct: playing the piano offers proven benefits from physical and intellectual to social and emotional to people of all ages.

Let’s Get Physical
Who knew? Those piano lessons we took when we were young offered specific physical benefits to our developing bodies. And piano lessons and practice can also, it turns out, improve the physical health of adults and the elderly. Dr. Arthur Harvey, retired professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa, published a study through the American Music Conference that details the vast physiologic benefits generated by regular musical practice. One obvious boon of regular piano playing, Harvey found, is the sharpening of fine motor skills in children. But playing music, according to Harvey’s research, also “activates the cerebellum and therefore may aid stroke victims in regaining language capabilities.” Additional research revealed that group keyboard lessons given to older Americans had a significant effect on increasing levels of human growth hormone (HGH), which is implicated in slowing such aging phenomena as osteoporosis, energy levels, wrinkling, sexual function, muscle mass, and aches and pains.

The physical benefits of piano playing are even more far reaching. Mitchell Gaynor M.D., in his book Sounds of Healing, demonstrates that music has therapeutic physical effects including reduced anxiety, heart and respiratory rates; reduced cardiac complications; lowered blood pressure; and increased immune responses.

Keys to Better Thinking
In addition to the proven body benefits of regular play, piano practice can also boost cognitive and intellectual abilities. Playing piano, in other words, makes us smarter. Research through the years has demonstrated that musical training taps into similar areas of brain function as those used in spatial intelligence and even math. In fact, kids who continue their playing through their teenage years average about 100 points higher on the SAT. In 1994, research revealed, undergraduates who majored in music had the highest acceptance rate into medical school, at 66%.

In a study conducted by E. Glenn Schellenberg of the University of Toronto at Mississauga in 2011, researchers split 132 first-graders into four separate groups for after-school activities. One group was given singing lessons, one was given drama lessons, another piano lessons, and the last was offered no after-school instruction. All of the students’ IQ’s were evaluated at the end of the year. Those who participated in the piano lessons saw an IQ increase of 7 points, while the other groups saw an increase of 4.25 at most. The researchers concluded that the fact that piano education requires one to be focused for long periods of times contributes to the greater IQ gains in the piano-playing group.

Striking a Contented Chord
As if the physical and cognitive benefits of regular piano playing were not enough, studies also show that time at the keyboard offers emotional advantages, as well. In fact, research reveals that those who are involved in creating music on a regular basis experience less anxiety, loneliness and depression.

Barry Bittman, MD, of the Body-Mind Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania, created a study to gauge stress levels among 32 volunteers. The volunteers were put through a stress-inducing activity attempting to assemble a difficult puzzle while incentivized by a monetary prize and then were told to “relax” afterward using a variety of different methods, including reading magazines and playing keyboards. The volunteers also gave blood during the study, and the blood was tested for the activity of 45 stress-related genes. In the group that played keyboard to relax, the results showed a significantly higher reversal in the markers for stress-related genes than in the other groups.

“With ongoing research,” Bittman concludes, “recreational music-making could potentially serve as a rational stress-reduction activity, along with other lifestyle strategies that include healthy nutrition and exercise.”

Add to this data the other benefits that come from piano playing increases in work ethic, diligence, creativity, self-reliance and perseverance and the result is a veritable symphony of good news for your body and your soul. Ready to tickle the ivories?

Bittman, B. Medical Science Monitor, February 2005; vol 11.
Calter, M. “Playing the Piano Can Strengthen Fine Motor Skills.”http://www.toptenreviews.com
Gaynor, M. Sounds of Healing, Broadway Books.
Schellenberg, E. Psychological Science, August 2004; vol 15.