Practicing a musical instrument in childhood is associated with enhanced verbal ability and nonverbal reasoning

In this study we investigated the association between instrumental music training in childhood and outcomes closely related to music training as well as those more distantly related. Children who received at least three years (M = 4.6 years) of instrumental music training outperformed their control...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2008-10, Vol.3 (10), p.e3566-e3566
Main Authors: Forgeard, Marie, Winner, Ellen, Norton, Andrea, Schlaug, Gottfried
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aptitude - physiology
Auditory discrimination
Child
Childhood
Children
Cognition & reasoning
Discrimination
Female
Functional Laterality
Humans
Intelligence tests
Learning - physiology
Male
Meta-analysis
Motor skill
Music
Music - psychology
Musical instruments
Musicians & conductors
Neuropsychological Tests
Neuroscience/Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuroscience/Neurodevelopment
Neuroscience/Psychology
Problem Solving - physiology
Psychomotor Performance
Reasoning
Skills
Studies
Training
Verbal Behavior - physiology
Vocabulary
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Summary:In this study we investigated the association between instrumental music training in childhood and outcomes closely related to music training as well as those more distantly related. Children who received at least three years (M = 4.6 years) of instrumental music training outperformed their control counterparts on two outcomes closely related to music (auditory discrimination abilities and fine motor skills) and on two outcomes distantly related to music (vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning skills). Duration of training also predicted these outcomes. Contrary to previous research, instrumental music training was not associated with heightened spatial skills, phonemic awareness, or mathematical abilities. While these results are correlational only, the strong predictive effect of training duration suggests that instrumental music training may enhance auditory discrimination, fine motor skills, vocabulary, and nonverbal reasoning. Alternative explanations for these results are discussed.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0003566