Biological Basis of Music-Based Interventions to Improve Cognitive Function in Children

Cognitive function refers to the wide range of mental processes involved in acquiring and applying information. Previous research has found that music improves multiple cognitive skills and provides developmental benefits to children. In this review, we found that music largely improves reading skills, mathematical skills, motor functions, and certain behaviors in children. We also further explored the existing research on the biological basis underlying these phenomena. For example, research has shown that music and reading activate overlapping brain regions, suggesting music enhances reading skills in children because it strengthens shared neural pathways. Similarly, music training has been demonstrated to improve spatial-temporal reasoning, an integral aspect of mathematical processing, due to overlapping brain regions. It has been suggested that both active music training and passive music training (Mozart Effect) can improve mathematical function by activating an underlying neural network that supports spatial-temporal reasoning. Studies using MRI and EEG techniques have also found that music training strengthens motor function by driving neurological changes in motor regions, a process called neuroplasticity. Finally, music training is hypothesized to enhance social communication due to music influencing changes in intrinsic brain connectivity; improve inhibitory control by accelerating the development of a more efficient inhibitory control network; and reduce internalizing disorders by counteracting the effects of dopamine transporter downregulation. This review provides valuable evidence for the use of music as an educational tool or therapy, with the potential to benefit both healthy children and those with cognitive or developmental disorders.