Impact of In-school Music Classes: Rhythm, Language and the Brain

The present study seeks to understand how musical training impacts cognitive, linguistic, and perceptual skills and associated brain development. Despite the concerted effort that schools make in teaching children literacy skills, some children benefit more from this instruction than others. One possible explanation for this variability in learning outcomes is that language proficiency rests upon a number of foundational skills, such as the ability to identify and segregate sounds. If musical training is able to improve any of these foundational skills, it may impact literacy development.