Abstract

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of research on music and the developing brain. As brain imaging technology becomes more sophisticated, neuroscientists have been able to gain many insights into the developing brain as it perceives and processes musical information. Yet, there is still a fair amount of “misunderstanding, misapprehension, and misapplication” :5–11, p. 6, 2011) of neuroscientific research in the arts and humanities, as well as in education. In this chapter, we offer a critical review of neuromusical research conducted with children aged 0–8. The chapter is divided into four parts: a brief description EEG and MRI, two brain and the main imaging techniques used with young children; a review of imaging studies published in the past decade concerning music and young children; the main criticisms associated with the works, coming primarily from scholars in the humanities, arts, and education fields; Implications for research and practice in early childhood.