I have found quite a few leads both here and on internet searches...but I've just started reading This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin. It looks like it's going to be a really good book - not focussed on what I'm researching, but definitely interesting reading, and discusses certain aspects of children's learning. His purpose is to write as a scientist/musician in a way that everyone can understand, in order to enhance the magic of music by becoming aware of scientific discoveries.

~b.w.