Attention and vigilance advantages related to formal musical training across the lifespan

Sustained attention and vigilance are fundamental cognitive abilities that develop throughout childhood and adolescence and may be enhanced by cognitively demanding activities such as formal musical training. This cross- sectional study examined whether individuals engaged in long-term musical training show enhanced attention and vigilance compared to matched controls without such training. Participants (N = 278; ages 8–34) were drawn from two samples of children, adolescents, and adults, with musicians and nonmusicians matched on a wide array of demographic and lifestyle variables using multivariate propensity-score matching. Attentional performance was assessed using the ANTI-Vea, a validated computerized task that measures two components of vigilance— executive and arousal vigilance—along with other attentional processes. Moreover, we applied advanced behavioral modelling given their sensitivity to the complex developmental trajectories in vigilance. For many indices, musically trained participants outperformed nonmusicians at all ages transversally, with overall faster responses, fewer attentional lapses, detecting more executive vigilance targets, and lower variability in arousal vigilance trials. Other group differences became more pronounced with age, indicating a possible dosage effect. Crucially, these findings remained after extensive control for potential confounding variables, providing a closer estimate of the long-term association between formal musical training and attentional abilities. Although the advantages associated with musical training were modest and the study's correlational nature warrants caution, they support the hypothesis that music practice may foster domain-general cognitive skills and underscore the utility of music as a model of brain plasticity.