Music training boosts children's cognitive development, reveals research

Learning to play a musical instrument can help children improve their "inhibition control," the ability to focus on a task and resist distractions and automatic or impulsive reactions.

That’s what a new meta-analysis done at Université de Montréal and published in the November issue of the journal Cognition, suggests.

Supervised by psychology professor Simone Dalla Bella, doctoral student Kevin Jamey reviewed 22 studies from nine countries published between 1980 and 2023 involving 1,734 children aged 3 to 11. Eight of the studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the gold standard in research, and 14 were longitudinal studies.

Based on the data, Jamey found that music training has a “moderate to large” positive effect on inhibition control. The RCTs had an average effect size of 0.60, a statistically significant result. “Starting from an effect size of 0.4, we can begin making public policy recommendations, for example,” said Jamey.

The longitudinal studies, which followed groups of children over time, showed a more modest but still-significant effect size of 0.36.

“These findings exceed those of previous meta-analyses of the transfer effect of music training on executive function,” Dalla Bella said. “They also show greater effectiveness than other cognitive training methods such as video games.”

One-on-one lessons best

The positive effects were observed regardless of the children’s age, the intensity of training, or the method of musical instruction.

“Our meta-analysis looked at various music learning formats, including private and group lessons, and we found that one-on-one lessons, especially outside a school setting, seemed to have the strongest impact, since there are fewer distractions for both student and teacher,” said Jamey.

The data also indicated that a total of 300 minutes of music training is enough to see an improvement in inhibition control. It therefore appears that even a moderate amount of music practice can be beneficial.

The authors caution that their analysis does not show that music training is a miracle solution. “To be truly effective, musical learning must be guided and use scientifically proven methods,” Dalla Bella stressed. “While music doesn’t improve everything, it does appear to have benefits for certain cognitive functions that deserve further study.”

Jamey and Dalla Bella are optimistic about the potential of music training for children with developmental disorders. “Specific types of music training could benefit children with autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity,” they suggested.

Further randomized controlled trials will be needed to confirm these results. Jamey plans to pursue this research when he joins a four-year research project as a postdoctoral fellow at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC Dornsife in Los Angeles.

Dalla Bella and Jamey also support reintroducing music education in primary schools. “We are very close to being able to make a formal recommendation,” they said. “The potential benefits are too great to ignore.”