The Broca’s area of our brain was originally identified for its role in processing the syntax and meaning of sentences. In 1861, Dr. Paul Broca discovered a patient with specific brain damange who could understand speech but was unable to form sentences. In 2001, researchers in Germany used a special chord progression to prove that the Broca’s region is activated when people process music. Last week, Dr. Vanessa Sluming revealed research showing that symphony musicians have an average of 15% more gray matter in their Broca’s area than non-musicians. The gray matter tends to shrink with age in most people, but musical endeavors keep this area active.