Musically trained children are better at processing and retaining information, a new research reveals.

Researchers at the Boston Children's Hospital found that children who undertook musical training perform better at executive processes that enable people to adapt to challenging mental tasks, process information, and learn and retain knowledge.

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For the study, Gaab and colleagues at the Boston Children's Hospital compared 15 music students ages 9 to 12 who have taken at least two years of regular training in music to a control group of 12 untrained children of the same age.

Similarly, they compared 15 active professional musicians with 15 non-musicians. Both control groups received no musical training beyond basic school requirements.

All groups were subjected to a battery of cognitive tests where children with music training and adult musicians performed better on various cognitive measures. On functional MRI scans, trained children showed enhanced activation in specific areas of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with high level cognitive functioning. The study is the first to use fMRI scans to test the effect of musical training on children's brain.

In an earlier study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, a German team of researchers in Ossietzky University concluded that music education has beneficial effects in a child's cognitive development, particularly in language acquisition.

Similar researches conducted in Canada and Hong Kong report a clear connection between cognitive development and music education across all cultures.

Gaab argues that executive functioning is a strong predictor of future academic success. While schools are increasingly cutting music programs in favor of preparing children for test performance, the new research provides conclusive evidence that musical training may strongly contribute to a child's future academic achievement.

Tagsearly music education, cognitive development, music training in children, music training cognitive development, cognitive development in children, early music training