Relationship between Music Education and Attentional Control: Evidence from an Eye Tracking Study in Primary School Children

The present longitudinal quasi-experimental study examined the extent to which music education is related to the development of attentional control. Control of visual attention was examined with the use of an antisaccade task in an eye tracking study. Fifty primary school children (6–7 years old), 25 from music school matched on fluid intelligence with their peers from non-music primary school, performed the antisaccade task three times, at the beginning of school education, after 12 and 24 months. Their eye movements were recorded each time. Over time, attentional control increased in both groups. Music school children performed significantly better than general school children in antisaccadic trials. In line with the prediction, all students’ correct responses in the antisaccade task were faster over the time of education, supporting growth in their ability of attentional control. Yet this growth was significantly greater in music school children. Only music school children significantly decrease the latency of saccades toward the target in the correct antisaccade trials. No such trend was significant for children without music education. Finally, fluid intelligence increased over time in both groups. The present study demonstrated a relationship between systematic music education for the development of children’s attentional control.