The study was conducted by Samuel Mehr, a Harvard Graduate School of Education doctoral student working in the lab of Elizabeth Spelke, the Marshall L. Berkman Professor of Psychology, and found that there was little to no improvement in the cognitive abilities of children who studied music.
Mehr told the Harvard Gazette that while more than 80% of American adults think that music improves children’s grades or intelligence, ‘there is very little evidence supporting the idea that music classes enhance children’s cognitive development’.