The Benefits of Music for Young Brains

In the 1990s, the effect of music on the brain was popularized as the Mozart effect. This theory purported that listening to music composed by Mozart made kids smarter. The accepted theory now is that while taking music lessons as a child enhances brain function and structure, there's nothing uniquely beneficial about the music of Mozart. Children with musical backgrounds do better in subjects like language, reading, and math than their non-musical classmates.