Need another reason to get back to learning music? It's good for your brain.

Photo Courtesy of Northwestern University

"Just as we lift weights to build our biceps, playing music makes our nervous systems more efficient," said Nina Kraus, a neuroscientist at Northwestern University and principal investigator of its Auditory Neuroscience Labrortory.

The Neural Encoding of Music project reports more efficient aural memory for both a younger group of musicians aged 18-32 as well as older musicians aged 45-65 compared to nonmusicians.