Studies have demonstrated positive associations between music lessons and executive functions (EFs) in children. Because researchers have focused on comprehensive music lessons taught in school, it remains unclear whether pure instrumental music lessons as an extracurricular activity reveal similar results. Moreover, interventional studies reported mixed findings and there is a lack of experimental designs allowing for causal conclusions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of music lessons as an extracurricular activity on EFs in children. Primary school children (N = 94) aged 6–7 years were randomly assigned to a music group, an arts group, or a waiting control group. Different measures of EFs were assessed in pre- and posttests. The results revealed an improvement in children from the music group for some components of EFs. Based on our findings we conclude that instrumental music lessons have an impact on specific EFs in children.

研究表明，儿童的音乐课程与执行功能（EF）之间存在正相关。由于研究人员专注于在学校讲授的综合音乐课程，因此尚不清楚纯粹的器乐音乐课程是否作为课外活动显示出相似的结果。此外，干预性研究报告的结果参差不齐，并且缺乏实验性设计以得出因果关系的结论。因此，本研究的目的是调查音乐课作为课外活动对儿童EF的影响。将6-7岁的小学生（N = 94）随机分配到音乐组，艺术组或等待对照组。在测试前和测试后评估了EF的不同度量。结果表明，音乐组的儿童在EF的某些方面有所改善。根据我们的发现，我们得出结论，器乐课程对儿童的特定EF有影响。