Research Updates
Here at Bigger Better Brains we believe that through educating yourself, you can then educate and affect positive change in your community.
With all of the research in the field of neuromusical science, our BBB Research section serves as a content hub for you. We regularly share findings and break down the latest research to educate and inspire discussion. We hope you enjoy this page on our website and share BBB news with your colleagues, parents and students.
Musical training linked to improved attention and working memory
“Musical training can improve attention and working memory, which are executive functions that are important for daily life and are correlated with general better outcomes during lifespan.”
This is not a violin…
On Jan 3, 2023, Bigger Better Brains and I started a campaign we called “This is a not a…” campaign. At the essence of the campaign is the idea that music learning is not just learning music, but learning how to learn.
A school transformed itself by giving every student a violin
This is where the power of the story is. It is not simply that music learning has transformed a school and its students; it is HOW it has done it.
Could music help improve students’ ability to learn?
As students worldwide are having educational experiences that are a little or a lot different to their “normal”, teachers are looking for ways to maintain students’ engagement in a similar way to when they are attending “normal” school.
Music hits the mark to improve our memory
For almost a decade now we have understood that music listening activates the reward network in the brain.
Little ears are listening: How babies learn to talk before they’re even born
This article is packed with fantastic research from the MARCS Institute in Sydney, Australia. It is vital to study the first developmental steps in all areas of life.
Hospitals are prescribing music therapy for babies
“Research suggests music helps parents bond with babies who have had a harrowing start to life and may benefit the babies’ health and brain development.”
Music learning increases pre-reading skills and vocabulary
The results of this study found that early childhood music training can lead to associated improvements in both musical skills and language skills!
Language is music to a baby’s brain
In this study, they found that 9-month-old babies who had one month of exposure to directed music listening improved not only their auditory processing of music but also their language!
![Singing – the [new] pain management for premature babies](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/64c31ad8c54df33979a8ebe4/c3eca797-6d6a-4d52-a6a8-3087eab8c824/Mum+and+baby.png)
Singing – the [new] pain management for premature babies
“The primary musical features of infant-directed singing are ideal for emotional coordination and sharing between parent and infant without the risk of over-stimulation.”
Musical play is a must for preschoolers
What is musical play? Is it bashing on an upturned drum in the playground or banging pots and pans on the kitchen floor? Well, it can be both.
Music learning enhances executive function in preschoolers
After 12 weeks of 35 minutes of active music learning every day, randomly chosen preschoolers in the experiment group had higher scores on all of these executive function measures.
