My educational research experience agrees with the output of major universities and the Kennedy Center for the Arts, showing that speaking grammatically correct language to an infant or young child [infant - K], along with providing exposure to music and the arts, create the necessary gray-matter and white-matter brain cell connections via active cell axon (signal transmitter) proliferation and growing synapses (signal "jump points") in the infant and childhood brain. The same is true for the adult brain and even for injured child and adult brains.

Hearing and mimicking language, hearing music, and exposure to arts also create additional synapses in the brain. These synapses are "jump points" across which data signals from axons travel between 2 cells or among many cells in a network. The more synapses together with increasing numbers of transmitter axons, the greater the ability of the brain to learn and to apply information. IQ rises. Music does this for most humans. As with any trend, there are exceptions. However, even the deaf can benefit, proven by the fact that the world's number one percussionist, including the very musical xylophone, is deaf -- She is Dame Evleyn Glennie of the UK.

In addition, American Sign Language accesses both language and movement (exercise) processing; therefore, deafness does not eliminate language as important.

Language is irrevocably linked with personality and culture in an individual. Music and arts make up culture, along with other elements. Language, music, and arts all have mathematic components. They set the stage for mathematics learning and understanding, particularly. In the late 1960s, Ohio State University and other major education facilities ensured that a tape of Baroque Music was packed with every math text book, because that style of music increased mathematics learning when it was played while the student studied mathematics. In leaning programs at a branch of the company PIC in Ohio from 1995 - 2005, this type of music was shown to increase learning in all core subjects.

In addition, a group of approximately two dozen summer program 7-8th grade youth in 1996-1998, raised their reading scores from 3rd - 4th grade to 6th-8th grade through drawing pictures, under the instruction of a certified art therapist.

Music was also played. In short, the more they drew, the better these youth were able to process spoken and written language. The better they could process language, the more they could write in a cohesive way that made sense. The more they could do this, the more they were able to relax and smile.

In Pre-K classes for 3- and 4-year-olds in our public school systems in the 21st century, the agenda is to talk to the children, do art with them, play music and have them march and dance to it, and to exercise in other ways for 3 hours a day. These children are entering 1st grade later, having already learned ABCs, numbers from 1 - 100, and other skills, almost as a natural occurrence -- Drills and memorization have not been needed.

On the other hand, sit a baby in a corner in a crib unattended all day, as some youngsters do that have had children of their own, or sit a young child in a chair or in their room and ignore them until they are 6, and they will most often turn out not very bright and too much toward sedentary, for the rest of their lives. Some of this can be overcome in some individuals, but this is the general trend. Certain computer games, educational PC programs, and even music and action on TV can counter some of these affects; and some of these children benefit from this. Others of these children become isolated, aggressive, and unable to develop social skills.

The importance of music, then, is why our nation's school systems should not cut out music and the arts, as some systems have done. Music, arts, and exercise, create the necessary connections in the brain that are required to ready the human child to be able to learn, understand, and perform in reading, mathematics, science, and other subjects. No Child Left Behind needs a music component in order to succeed without targeting the wrong goal - memorization to achieve higher test scores. We cannot skip the preparation of language, music and arts for the brain and go directly to memorization drills. It is not working. However, these have always been the items cut from school budgets with the excuse that they are "frivolous."

Hands-on learning through actually doing projects that combine several subjects together helps children and youth that have not been exposed to the simulation of early language, music, and arts. Most of these individuals are better able to learn this way that through memorization. How much better they could learn if they had had the stimulation of music, the arts, and language processing via listening, early on.

Music and participation in music are very important elements of human brain development. Human cultural development includes music, arts, and language. It must all be preserved and encouraged.