Musical training: Contributions to Executive Function

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the possibility that music training could serve as a type of cognitive training. Music is an interesting potential avenue for cognitive training not only because music learning and processing are likely to draw heavily on executive function abilities, but also because musical experience has its own intrinsic rewards. This suggests that music training might serve as a particularly enjoyable and rewarding route to cognitive training. The authors describe some theoretical reasons to expect a strong relationship between executive function and music, describe the small body of work that has experimentally assessed the possibility that musical experience might transfer to executive function abilities, and finally recommend ways in which a music training program might strengthen cognitive abilities.

Publication
In J. M. Novick, M. F. Bunting, M. R. Dougherty, & R. W. Engle (Eds.), Cognitive and Working Memory Training: Perspectives from Psychology, Neuroscience, and Human Development (pp. 487–507). New York, NY: Oxford University Press