Experts have strenuously debated the effect of listening to music on an infant’s brain development. Some researchers--and many entrepreneurs--have concluded that music makes babies smarter, whereas other scientists have disputed this claim. One thing is certain, however; hearing a parent sing a soothing lullaby can soothe a baby, strengthen the parent-child connection, teach the infant new words and communicate love.

Spatial Skills

For very young children, listening to music can improve spatial skills. Because the part of the brain that processes musical sounds is connected to the part of the brain that comprehends math, hearing music could help your child’s brain develop better complex reasoning skills, according to “Newsweek.” However, this benefit of listening to music may not have a strong effect until your infant grows older.

Commercialization

In a cultural and commercial response to the idea that listening to music can improve your baby’s brain development, many musical products have been geared towards infants, babies and even unborn children still in the womb. Although these products have met signification commercial success, none of them are supported by official studies or proof of their effectiveness, explains “The Myth of the First Three Years.”

Inadequate Data

Although multiple studies have examined the effect of music on the brain’s development, no studies have directly evaluated the long-term effects of music on the infant’s brain development. Most of the studies popularly cited to support the infant music-listening trend relate to the issue only indirectly. The studies that examined the immediate or short-term effects of listening to music tested older children or college students. Studies that evaluated the influence of music on the brain’s long-term development assess people who had learned to play instruments while young--which is impossible for an infant—not those who had simply listened to music.

Processing Music

Despite the debate over the music’s effectiveness in the infant’s mental long-term development, studies have conclusively proven that infants understand, process and react to music, teaches the “Educational Leadership” journal. Infants notice and comprehend pitch, note changes, patterns, melodies and rhythm, and they can associate tunes with experiences. Processing music stimulates the brain’s synapses and interconnections. Even though scientists have not definitively proven that listening to music makes infants smarter over the long term, they have concluded that it stimulates the infant’s brain.

Types of Music

If music beneficially stimulates an infant’s brain, then it seems wise to play music that attracts and keeps the infant’s attention. According to the Journal of Research in Music Education, infants prefer consonant, simple, high-pitched melodies that are sung, rather than played; a cappella songs, unaccompanied by instruments, hold an infant’s attention most effectively, especially when sung by his mother. Concerning recorded instrumental songs, a study published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology concluded that listening to classical music--such as Mozart--does not affect a child differently than listening to popular dance music.

Conclusion

Playing music for your child can help you provide a pleasant, artistic home that stimulates his brain and gives him beautiful memories, even if it won’t necessarily improve his IQ. Sing to your little one and play for him whatever music you prefer; no matter what science says about music’s neurological effects on an infant’s brain, you can know that helping your child develop an appreciation and love for music will enrich his entire life.

Research

• "Newsweek"; Your Child's Brain; Sharon Begley; February 1996 [dbpeds.org/media/childbrain.pdf]
• "The Myth of the First Three Years"; John Bruer; 1999 [books.google.com/books?id=RuaF9grD5zIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22The+myth+of+the+first+three+years%22&lr=&ei=PkkLTNzEFJqilASPraQf&cd=1#v=snippet&q=vision%20music&f=false]
• "Educational Leadership"; The Music in Our Minds; Norman Weinberger; November 1998 [128.200.122.84/weinberger/publications/Weinberger,%201998e.pdf]
• "Journal of Research in Music Education"; Music Listening Preferences in Early Life: Infants' Responses to Accompanied Versus Unaccompanied Singing; Ilari and Sundara; 2009 [linguistics.ucla.edu/people/Sundara/pubs/ilari_sundara.pdf]
• "British Journal of Developmental Psychology"; Listening to Mozart does not improve children's spatial ability: Final curtains for the Mozart effect; McKelvie and Low; June 2002 [ingentaconnect.com/content/bpsoc/bjdp/2002/00000020/00000002/art00006]