Music lessons may improve a child's cognitive abilities, which could lead to improved academic performance, a new study has found.

According to Dutch researchers, music education is on the decline in schools worldwide due to under-funding and competition with academic subjects. As a result, the chance to learn a musical instrument is often now viewed as a luxury rather than a standard part of education.

"Despite indications that music has beneficial effects on cognition, music is disappearing from general education curricula. This inspired us to initiate a long-term study on the possible effects of music education on cognitive skills that may underlie academic achievement," commented lead researcher, Dr Artur Jaschke, of the VU University of Amsterdam.

Almost 150 children who attended different schools took part in the study. All of the schools followed the regular primary curriculum, however some of the children underwent structured music education, which included both theoretical and practical lessons. Others underwent visual arts classes.

After two-and-a-half years, the children's cognitive skills and academic performance were assessed.

The study found that those who did visual arts classes saw some benefits, such as improved visual short-term memory. However, those who had taken part in music lessons recorded significant cognitive improvements compared to all other children.

These improvements were seen in areas such as short-term memory, planning and language-based reasoning.

"Children who received music lessons showed improved language-based reasoning and the ability to plan, organise and complete tasks, as well as improved academic achievement. This suggests that the cognitive skills developed during music lessons can influence children's cognitive abilities in completely unrelated subjects, leading to overall improved academic performance," Dr Jaschke noted.

The researchers said that they hope these results will highlight the importance of music in human culture and cognitive development.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Frontiers in Neuroscience.