Music, the brain and learning at school: What science tells us

This day-long event, organized jointly by the Vareille Foundation and the Collège de France as part of its Agir pour l’Éducation* series, will offer insights into why learning an instrument in early childhood can be a powerful force for success in school. Does playing music improve children’s cognitive capacities? What are the connections between music and language, and between music and math? How can we assess the impact of playing an instrument on children’s development and skills?

The program for this symposium was created by Dr. Stanislas Dehaene and Dr. Emmanuel Bigand, researchers in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. World-renowned researchers Nina Kraus, Assal Habibi and Robert Zatorre have agreed to present their most recent work.

France will be represented by a session on the Foundation’s A violin can change the world experiment, along with presentations by researchers from labs at Sciences Po/CNRS and NeuroSpin.

This symposium offers a unique opportunity to learn about the latest developments in this compelling issue for the education community.

This event is free and open to the public. Register now.

* Agir pour l’éducation – Un enjeu scientifique pour la société (Action for Education—Putting science to work for society) is a series of symposiums launched in 2022 by Collège de France professors in response to the current crisis in French education. Its goal is to make the methods, analysis, experiments and results of scientific research available to schools and to help France fulfill its promise of education for all.