Yet now, a growing body of brain research suggests that teaching the arts may be good for students across all disciplines
Now neuroscientists are investigating how training students in the arts may change the structure of their brains and the way they think.
One researcher studying students who go to an arts high school found a correlation between those who were trained in music and their ability to do geometry.
The study Winner is working on has shown that children who receive a small amount of training - as little as half an hour of lessons a week and 10 minutes of practice a day - do have structural changes in their brains that can be measured
About 15 months after the study began, students who played the instrument were not better at math or reading, although the researchers are questioning whether they have assessments that are sensitive enough to measure the changes.