Trained musicians perform better on an intelligence test than non-musicians

What is it about?

We tested trained musicians, amateur musicians, and non-musicians on a standardized test measuring "fluid intelligence," which is the aspect of IQ responsible for abstract thinking, problem solving, and memory. The test involved several components that measured skills such as memory, selective attention, and visual processing speed. Trained musicians performed much better on this test of fluid than did participants in the other two groups, with amateur musicians performing a bit better than non-musicians. Though this was in a sense a correlation -- we took pre-existing groups that may have already differed prior to any musical training (e.g. people with higher fluid intelligence to begin with may be more drawn to studying an instrument), the study adds to a large literature demonstrating the positive cognitive benefits of musical training.

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Why is it important?

This study adds to prior work suggesting cognitive and intellectual benefits to musical training that transfer far from the musical training itself. This study in particular demonstrates how these differences between musicians and non-musicians can be identified and studied using a standardized cognitive battery (NIH cognitive toolbox.)

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