Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6- to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization
Published on: April 19, 2017
Practicing a musical instrument in childhood is associated with enhanced verbal ability and nonverbal reasoning
Marie Forgeard1, Ellen Winner, Andrea Norton
1Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Background:
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.
Methodology/Principal Findings:
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.
Conclusions/Significance:
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.
Related Concept Videos
Gene-Environment Interactions
Information Processing Approach
Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
Language and Cognition
Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Biological Influences on Intelligence
