A study carried out at Boston Children’s Hospital has revealed that those who are trained in music from a young age for two years or more benefit from improved executive brain function.

The results, published in the journal PLOS ONE, show that the part of the brain responsible for cognitive processes such as problem solving, behaviour regulation and the processing and retention of information was more active in the musically trained individuals.

Senior study investigator Nadine Gaad, PhD, says ‘Since executive functioning is a strong predictor of academic achievement, even more than IQ, we think our findings have strong educational implications’

She continued: ‘While many schools are cutting music programs and spending more and more time on test preparation, our findings suggest that musical training may actually help to set up children for a better academic future.’

For the study, a group of 15 musically trained children aged 9 to…