Children who have music lessons more likely to become great inventors

24 October 2013, 12:45

A new study has revealed that children who are given music lessons are more likely to succeed in areas of science and problem-solving.

The study, carried out by Michigan State University, concluded that children who learn a musical instrument or the rudiments of music have advanced skills of using analogy, intuition and imagination - all key skills in scientific problem solving.

Focusing on a group of graduates from the MSU Honors College from between 1990 and 1995, the study notes that 93% of the surveyed graduates had had musical training in their upbringing (compared to 34% of the general populace).

More widely, the study also found that those graduates who owned their own patents on inventions and their own businesses had up to eight times more exposure to the arts in their childhood.

Rex LaMore, director of MSU's Center for Community and Economic Development, commented: "If you started as a young child and continued in your adult years, you're more likely to be an inventor as measured by the number of patents generated, businesses formed or articles published."