Babies who receive musical training smile more, communicate better and react more calmly to unfamiliar or unfavourable situations, according to new research out of Ontario’s McMaster University.

The study involved one-year-olds and their parents who spent six months participating in one of two types of music-related activities.

One group played with toys while music played in the background.

The other group learned to play percussion instruments and sing lullabies, nursery rhymes and songs with actions.

The interactive group showed more sophisticated responses to music, but what surprised researchers even more was the non-musical differences between the two groups.

Babies from the interactive classes showed better early communication skills, like pointing at objects that are out of reach or waving goodbye, the study found. They also smiled more, were easier to soothe and showed less distress when things were unfamiliar or didn’t go their way.

“Many past studies of musical training have focused on older children,” study co-author Laurel Trainor said. “Our results suggest that the infant brain might be particularly plastic with regard to musical exposure.”

The study was funded by an award from the Grammy Foundation and appeared in the journals Developmental Science and Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.