Several studies comparing adult musicians and nonmusicians have shown that music training is associated with structural brain differences. It is not been established, however, whether such differences result from pre-existing biological traits, lengthy musical training, or an interaction of the two factors, or if comparable changes can be found in children undergoing music training. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study, we investigated the effects of music training on the developmental trajectory of children’s brain structure, over two years, beginning at age 6. We compared these children with children of the same socio-economic background but either involved in sports training or not involved in any systematic after school training. We established at the onset that there were no pre-existing structural differences among the groups. Two years later we observed that children in the music group showed (1) a different rate of cortical thickness maturation between the right and left posterior superior temporal gyrus, and (2) higher fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum, specifically in the crossing pathways connecting superior frontal, sensory, and motor segments. We conclude that music training induces macro and microstructural brain changes in school-age children, and that those changes are not attributable to pre-existing biological traits.

Inhibitory control, the ability to suppress an immediate dominant response, has been shown to predict academic and career success, socioemotional wellbeing, wealth, and physical health. Learning to play a musical instrument engages various sensorimotor processes and draws on cognitive capacities including inhibition and task switching. While music training has been shown to benefit cognitive and language skills, its impact on inhibitory control remains inconclusive. As part of an ongoing 5-year longitudinal study, we investigated the effects of music training on the development of inhibitory control and its neural underpinnings with a population of children (starting at age 6) from underserved communities. Children involved in music were compared with children involved in sports and children not involved in any systematic after-school program. Inhibition was measured using a delayed gratification, flanker, and Color-Word Stroop task, which was performed both inside and outside of an MRI scanner. We established that there were no pre-existing differences in cognitive capacities among the groups at the onset. In the delayed gratification task, beginning after 3 years of training, children with music training chose a larger, delayed reward in place of a smaller, immediate reward compared to the control group. In the flanker task, children in the music group, significantly improved their accuracy after 3 and 4 years of training, whereas such improvement in the sport and control group did not reach significance. There were no differences among the groups on behavioral measures of Color-Word Stroop task at any time point. As for differences in brain function, we have previously reported that after 2 years, children with music training showed significantly greater bilateral activation in the pre-SMA/SMA, ACC, IFG, and insula during the Color-Word Stroop task compared to the control group, but not compared to the sports group (Sachs et al., 2017). However, after 4 years, we report here that differences in brain activity related to the Color-Word Stroop task between musicians and the other groups is only observed in the right IFG. The results suggest that systematic extracurricular programs, particularly music-based training, may accelerate development of inhibitory control and related brain networks earlier in childhood.

This position paper aims to raise awareness among educational policymakers, teacher educators, and school leaders around the world about the urgent need to better prepare Early Childhood Education (ECE) teachers in music education. Most countries fail to sufficiently train teachers to meet the music-related expectations of contemporary ECE curricula, which inevitably affects young children’s learning and development. Our first goal is to describe this worrisome reality in depth, based on prior literature. We elaborate on the limited music education (extracurricular, pre-service, and in-service) typically offered to ECE teachers worldwide. We then highlight the negative consequences that result from having a teaching force clearly ill-prepared in this area. Based on studies conducted with pre-service and/or in-service ECE teachers, we summarize what is known about teachers’ learning needs, motivations, and preferences regarding music education. Our second goal is to propose a series of low-cost, sustainable, and easily scalable strategies to strengthen teachers’ preparation. Practical and policy-related potential obstacles are discussed. As final remarks, we urge ECE stakeholders to (a) investigate the specific needs, motivations, and preferences of their local teachers in music education, (b) design and implement responsive training strategies, and (c) examine their impact on teachers and/or children.

Several studies comparing adult musicians and non-musicians have provided compelling evidence for functional and anatomical differences in the brain systems engaged by musical training. It is not known, however, whether those differences result from long term musical training or from pre-existing traits favoring musicality. In an attempt to begin addressing this question, we have launched a longitudinal investigation of the effects of childhood music training on cognitive, social and neural development. We compared a group of 6-7 year old children at the start of intense after-school musical training, with two groups of children: one involved in high intensity sports training but not musical training, another not involved in any systematic training. All children were tested with a comprehensive battery of cognitive, motor, musical, emotional and social assessments and underwent magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography. Our first objective was to determine whether children who participate in musical training were different, prior to training, from children in the control groups in terms of cognitive, motor, musical, emotional and social behavior measures as well as in structural and functional brain measures. Our second objective was to determine whether musical skills, as measured by a music perception assessment prior to training, correlates with emotional and social outcome measures that have been shown to be associated with musical training. We found no neural, cognitive, motor, emotional or social differences among the three groups. In addition, there was no correlation between music perception skills and any of the social or emotional measures. These results provide a baseline for an ongoing longitudinal investigation of the effects of music training.

The aim of this study was to investigate maternal beliefs and uses of music with infants. One hundred mothers of infants aged between seven and nine months of age were recruited in Montréal, Canada. Mothers were interviewed on musical background, musical preferences, beliefs and uses of music with their infants. The results suggested that, despite changes in life styles due to modernization, mothers still use music with their infants, and singing remains the primary musical activity of mother–infant dyads. Maternal occupation and previous musical experiences, including ensemble experiences, were found to be determinant in mothers’ uses of music with their babies. Interestingly, most mothers sustained the belief that appropriate music for babies exist. Yet, there was no consensus as to what exactly is appropriate music. The results are discussed in the light of early parent–child musical interactions, musical development and learning, with some implications for early child education and care.