Music lessons make children intelligent

London: Children who take music lessons show more advanced brain development and improved memory than those who do not, according to a new study.

Researchers claim to have found the first evidence of musical training being linked to greater attention skills.

After a year, musically trained children performed better in a memory test that is correlated with general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, mathematics and IQ, reports a Canadian team.

The findings, which are backed by brain scans, are published in the journal Brain by McMaster University's Institute for Music and the Mind in Hamilton, Ontario, and the Rotman Research Institute of the University of Toronto.

"Greater improvement on a non-musical memory task in children taking music lessons is very interesting," said Prof Laurel Trainor. "Our research shows that this occurs in children as young as four years of age."

The Telegraph Group Limited