The human brain and music share an ancient relationship. When humans listen to or engage with music, multiple brain regions activate simultaneously in a neural symphony of their own (Toader et al., 2023). This is particularly significant for children as their brains are in an important period of development, forming neural connections at an astonishing rate, particularly in areas related to language, emotional regulation, and executive function.
Music is a powerful stimulus for developing neural architecture, creating pathways that benefit musical ability and learning across domains (Zaatar et al., 2023).
Music is beneficial for people of all ages, yet music and rhythmic movement have specific benefits for young children. Music and rhythmic movement are fundamental components of early childhood education, providing essential developmental benefits across multiple domains. Here are a few reasons why music is so important:
Cognitive Development
Memory enhancement: Songs with rhythmic movement help encode information along multiple neural pathways, enhancing recall.
Neural connections: Music activates multiple brain regions simultaneously, strengthening neural pathways during this critical period of brain development
Pattern recognition: Musical patterns help children recognize patterns and sequences. Music facilitates predicting what comes next, building mathematical thinking and reading comprehension.
Physical Development
Body awareness: Movement activities help children understand their position in space, and relationships to objects and people in their environments.
Fine motor skills: Playing simple instruments (tambourines, rhythm sticks) strengthens hand muscles needed for writing.
Gross motor skills: Dance, marching, and rhythmic games develop coordination, balance, weight shift, core strength, and spatial awareness.
Social-Emotional Development
Cooperation: Group dances, line dancing, and musical games teach turn-taking, sharing, thoughtfulness, and collaboration.
Emotional expression: Music provides a safe outlet for expressing and processing emotions.
Self-regulation: Following musical cues teaches children to manage their impulses and intensity.
Language and Literacy
Phonological awareness: Rhyming songs highlight speech sounds, precursors to prosody, reading, and comprehension.
Sequencing skills: Following song patterns and narratives develops planning, previewing, and storytelling abilities.
Vocabulary expansion: Thematic songs introduce new words in meaningful contexts, broadening the general fund of knowledge.
Neurodivergence & Music
For children with neurological differences like autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, or developmental coordination disorder, the benefits of music can be even more pronounced (Mayer-Benarous et al., 2021). Neurodivergent brains often process information differently, and music can provide an alternative avenue for development and learning that leverages their unique neurological wiring.
Children with ADHD typically struggle with sustained attention and impulse control during traditional seated work. However, rhythmic musical activities can serve as an external pulse for attention, helping regulate focus. Neuroscientists explain that rhythmic input activates the frontal lobe – the brain region responsible for executive functions like attention and impulse control – through synchronized neural firing patterns that music uniquely facilitates.
Additionally, physical activities can be challenging and often frustrating for children with developmental coordination disorder. Music with pronounced down-beats can help (Scartozzi et al., 2024).
Some autistic children experience sound sensitivity that can be overwhelming in the classroom environment. Yet, carefully selected music can help modulate sensory processing. The predictable patterns in music engage the brain's ability to anticipate and process sensory information, creating a structured auditory environment that can be calming rather than chaotic. Understanding this principle allows teachers to create auditory supports that give these children's brains the tools to regulate sensory input.
Our clinical practice at Wellington-Alexander Center utilizes diverse musical instruments, digital therapeutics, and cognitive-motor movement programs. In some of our sessions, patients/students wear high-quality headphones and listen to The Listening Program while they do their cognitive activities. Other times, I simply play the music on a high-quality speaker in the background. A helpful resource is Advanced Brain Technologies, which produces high-quality, affordable orchestral music for both productivity and calming.
Simple movements paired with songs with clear, steady beats can support children's needs. The consistent musical structure gives the brain temporal scaffolding. Predictable patterns that help motor planning centers better sequence and execute movements.
COGNITAP
The program I start most sessions with is CogniTap from my CogniSuite Collection. It allows me to engage with the children while respecting their autonomy. Initially, the children can play music on the yoga balls however they wish. Then, I ask them, "Would you like to make your brain stronger to make learning easier?" We read the "CogniTap Code" together from left to right, just like you read a book. We practice the patterns together, and then the children lead. We even teach their parents how to drum sometimes. Reading the CogniTap cognitive-visual-motor code while drumming in time to the beat engages executive function and self-regulation.
Music & Dyslexia
The science of music's impact also extends to language development, making it particularly beneficial for children with dyslexia (Habib, 2016; Pino, 2023). The overlapping neural networks that process musical rhythm and language phonology explain why rhythmic activities strengthen phonological awareness, the foundation of reading. When teachers lead children in clapping syllable patterns or singing songs that emphasize rhyming words, they strengthen the same neural circuits needed for decoding text.
Meludia
For entire class interventions, I use Meludia from Paris. I also have families use Meludia, projected on their television as a whole family experience, 4-5 times per week for 10-20 minutes at a time. We aim to reach 800-1200 minutes of consistent use to build neural pathways in the brain.
Music for Anxiety
For children experiencing anxiety, music's effect on the brain's emotional centers can be profound. Music can reduce cortisol (a stress hormone) while increasing dopamine and serotonin (feel-good neurotransmitters), creating a neurochemical environment more conducive to learning. This neurochemical shift can allow the prefrontal cortex (responsible for problem-solving) to function more effectively when gentle background music plays during challenging cognitive tasks.
Musical Interventions are Adaptable
What's particularly compelling about music interventions is their accessibility and adaptability. Unlike many specialized interventions, musical activities can be seamlessly integrated into existing classroom routines without stigmatizing students with different needs. When an entire class begins the day with a rhythmic movement activity, all students benefit – but those with specific neurological differences receive the additional support they particularly need.
The Timing of Music Interventions is Also Scientifically Significant
Research suggests that musical activities before challenging academic tasks can prime the brain for learning by increasing alertness, attention, and positive emotional states (Kiss, 2024). Conversely, calming music after intense learning periods helps the brain consolidate information during periods of reflection. Strategic use of energizing songs before instruction and calming melodies during reflective activities can support diverse learning needs across the classroom.
InTime from Advanced Brain Technologies is enjoyed by several of our autistic teens and adults. It was written, played, and produced by my friend, Nacho Arimany, with occupational therapist Sheila Allen and Alex Doman. Alex kindly came to Wellington-Alexander last Spring for staff training on Vital Neuro - another indispensable musical neurofeedback tool in our programming.
As we elucidate in our next book, The Movement Revolution, Kuczala & Kenney, 2026, children need more music, art, and movement in their early years to support cognitive, language, social, and motor development. Music builds cognition!
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