Those wacky Canadians have been looking at our brains again, and found more proof that musicians really are different. KL Hyde and others (why do we still use Latin?) found structural brain changes in young children after 15 months of musical training (compared to children who did not receive the training). They believe that these changes through increased brain plasticity suggest that music training in general increases brain plasticity, leading to the structural differences of adult experts (known from other studies). Are these changes a good thing? I'd be inclined to say yes, but I may be a bit biased. Now I have to decide whether my kids' increased brain plasticity is worth driving to Indianapolis five days a week for choir practice. Maybe I should just let their brains go mushy from TV. That's a type of plasticity, right?
Hyde KL, Lerch J, Norton A, Forgeard M, Winner E, Evans AC, and Schlaug G (2009). "Musical training shapes structural brain development," Journal of Neuroscience 29 (10), 3019-3025.