Summary: Children who learn to play musical instruments show advantages over their non-musical peers in learning, memory, and attention. Musically trained children exhibited stronger activation in the inferior frontal gyrus and the supramarginal gyrus—regions linked to the phonological loop, a working memory system involved in auditory processing. Researchers report that instrument training may also support creativity and overall quality of life for children.
Source: Frontiers
New neuroscience evidence indicates that learning to play an instrument benefits the developing brain. Children with musical training demonstrated better performance on attention and memory recall tasks, and showed greater activation in brain areas tied to attention control and auditory encoding—executive functions associated with improved reading, resilience, creativity, and life quality.
These findings appear in the open-access journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Led by Dr. Leonie Kausel, a violinist and neuroscientist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Universidad del Desarrollo Chile, the research team tested attention and working memory in 40 Chilean children aged 10 to 13. Twenty children had formal instrumental training—at least two years of lessons, a minimum of two hours of weekly practice, and regular participation in an orchestra or ensemble. The remaining 20 children, recruited from public schools in Santiago, had no musical training beyond the standard school curriculum.
All participants completed a validated bimodal (auditory/visual) attention and working memory task while researchers recorded brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The task presented a paired visual abstract figure and a short melody simultaneously during an encoding phase, followed by a memory retrieval phase that required yes/no recognition judgments. Accuracy and reaction times were measured, and fMRI captured blood-flow changes that reflect neural activity.
Reaction times did not differ significantly between the groups, but musically trained children outperformed controls on memory accuracy. According to Kausel, the study suggests two complementary mechanisms that may explain the cognitive advantage seen in musically trained children: one that enhances domain-general attention control and another that strengthens domain-specific auditory encoding.
In this context, “domain” refers to sensory modalities such as sound or vision. Domain-specific processing involves enhancements in a single sensory modality (in this case, auditory), while domain-general processes operate across multiple modalities and support broader executive functions. Both types of mechanisms appeared more engaged in the musically trained children.
For domain-specific auditory processing, the study found increased activation in the left inferior frontal gyrus and the left supramarginal gyrus—areas associated with the phonological loop, which supports auditory working memory, tonal and verbal sound processing, and the formation of auditory-motor connections. For domain-general processing, musicians showed greater engagement of the fronto-parietal control network, a distributed system involved in executive control, goal-directed tasks, and cognitively demanding activities.
Kausel and colleagues propose that regular music training strengthens the functional activity of these networks, facilitating better encoding and maintenance of auditory information and enhancing attentional control during demanding tasks.
“The next step of the project is to establish the causality of the mechanisms we found for improving attention and working memory,” says Kausel.
The research team plans longitudinal studies to determine causal links between music training and cognitive improvements, and to evaluate whether musical interventions could benefit children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Should parents sign their children up for music lessons? Kausel recommends musical education not only for its potential cognitive benefits but also for the enjoyment, discipline, and cultural value it brings. She suggests enrolling children for both the intrinsic rewards of learning music and for its broader developmental opportunities.
How the study was done
Kausel and colleagues adapted a bimodal attention and working memory task originally developed by Johnson and Zatorre (2006). During each trial, participants viewed an abstract visual figure and heard a short melody presented together for four seconds (encoding phase). After a two-second delay, participants completed a yes/no recognition test for one or both stimuli (memory retrieval phase). Some trials required attention to the auditory stimulus only, some to the visual stimulus only, and others to both simultaneously. The researchers compared “active” trials, where participants were instructed to attend and later recall stimuli, with “passive” trials, where participants observed stimuli without a memory task, to isolate brain activity linked to attention and encoding.
Functional MRI provided a non-invasive measure of brain activity: regions showing increased blood flow during encoding and attention tasks were identified as supporting these cognitive processes. Musically trained children showed stronger activation across both the fronto-parietal control network and left-hemisphere regions tied to the phonological loop, and auditory encoding improvements correlated with years of musical training.
About this music and memory research news
Source: Frontiers
Contact: Mischa Dijkstra – Frontiers
Image: The image is in the public domain.
Original Research: “Neural Dynamics of Improved Bimodal Attention and Working Memory in Musically Trained Children” by Leonie Kausel et al., published in Frontiers in Neuroscience.
Abstract
Neural Dynamics of Improved Bimodal Attention and Working Memory in Musically Trained Children
Attention and working memory are fundamental components of executive function and are known to be trainable. Musical training has been linked to improvements in these domains, but the underlying brain networks are not fully understood. This study used fMRI to examine neural dynamics in children aged 10–13 who either had regular instrumental training or did not. Participants completed a bimodal attention and working memory task that required attending to auditory, visual, or both stimuli and later recognizing them in a memory test. While both groups were more accurate on items they were instructed to attend, musically trained children outperformed controls overall across attention conditions. Neuroimaging revealed higher activation in cognitive control regions, including the fronto-parietal control network, during encoding phases in musicians. Enhanced auditory encoding in musicians correlated with years of training and greater activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus and left supramarginal gyrus—areas supporting the phonological loop. These findings clarify neural mechanisms by which musical training may enhance bimodal attention and working memory in children and contribute to models of brain plasticity.