Music training with Démos program positively influences cognitive functions in children from low socio-economic backgrounds

The relationship between playing musical instruments and cognitive trajectories: Analysis from a UK ageing cohort

BACKGROUND

The accumulation of age-associated cognitive deficits can lead to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. This is a major public health issue for the modern ageing population, as it impairs health, independence and overall quality of life. Keeping the brain active during life has been associated with an increased cognitive reserve, therefore reducing the risk of cognitive impairment in older age. Previous research has identified a potential relationship between musicality and cognition.

OBJECTIVES

Explore the relationship between musicality and cognitive function in a large cohort of older adults.

METHODS

This was a nested study within the PROTECT-UK cohort, which collects longitudinal computerised assessments of cognitive function in adults over 40. Participants were invited to complete the validated Edinburgh Lifetime Musical Experience Questionnaire (ELMEQ) to assess their musical experience and lifetime exposure to music. Linear regression analysis was performed using cognitive data from PROTECT-UK.

RESULTS

Analysis identified an association between musicality and cognition in this cohort. Playing a musical instrument was associated with significantly better performance in working memory and executive function. Significant associations were also found between singing and executive function, and between overall musical ability and working memory.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm previous literature, highlighting the potential value of education and engagement in musical activities throughout life as a means of harnessing cognitive reserve as part of a protective lifestyle for brain health.

Sequence Processing in Music Predicts Reading Skills in Young Readers: A Longitudinal Study

Musical abilities, both in the pitch and temporal dimension, have been shown to be positively associated with phonological awareness and reading abilities in both children and adults. There is increasing evidence that the relationship between music and language relies primarily on the temporal dimension, including both meter and rhythm. It remains unclear to what extent skill level in these temporal aspects of music may uniquely contribute to the prediction of reading outcomes. A longitudinal design was used to test a group-administered musical sequence transcription task (MSTT). This task was designed to preferentially engage sequence processing skills while controlling for fine-grained pitch discrimination and rhythm in terms of temporal grouping. Forty-five children, native speakers of Portuguese (Mage = 7.4 years), completed the MSTT and a cognitive-linguistic protocol that included visual and auditory working memory tasks, as well as phonological awareness and reading tasks in second grade. Participants then completed reading assessments in third and fifth grades. Longitudinal regression models showed that MSTT and phonological awareness had comparable power to predict reading. The MSTT showed an overall classification accuracy for identifying low-achievement readers in Grades 2, 3, and 5 that was analogous to a comprehensive model including core predictors of reading disability. In addition, MSTT was the variable with the highest loading and the most discriminatory indicator of a phonological factor. These findings carry implications for the role of temporal sequence processing in contributing to the relationship between music and language and the potential use of MSTT as a language-independent, time- and cost-effective tool for the early identification of children at risk of reading disability.

Impact of Daily Choral Singing and Creative Writing Activities on the Cognitive Development of Second-, Third-, and Fourth-Grade French Children from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds

In France, around one-fifth of children have reading difficulties, and school results are highly dependent on their socio-economic status. In this context, the need for alternative and innovative teaching techniques holds importance, and more artistic approaches are promising. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a daily choral singing or creative writing practice on the cognitive and linguistic development of French children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Eighty children participated in this longitudinal study, for whom we measured several cognitive and linguistic skills at the beginning (pre-test) and end (post-test) of the school year. The results showed that children in "singing" classes improved both their reading skills and processing speed, while those in "writing" classes improved their reading skills and vocabulary. These results open up new avenues of learning support, specifically for children with difficulties.

Effects of a 10-week musical instrument training on cognitive function in healthy older adults: implications for desirable tests and period of training

Introduction

Previous studies have shown that musical instrument training programs of 16 or more weeks improve verbal memory (Logical Memory Test delayed recall), processing speed (Digit Symbol Coding Test), and executive function (Trail Making Test Part B) of musically untrained healthy older adults. However, it is unclear whether shorter-period instrument training can yield similar effects. We sought to (1) verify those results and (2) clarify if intervention effects could be detected using other measures such as reaction time.

Methods

Healthy older adults (mean age = 73.28 years) were pseudo-randomly assigned to an untrained control group (n = 30) or an intervention group (n = 30) that received a weekly 10-session musical instrument training program (using melodica). We conducted neuropsychological tests on which intervention effects or association with musical training were reported in previous studies. We newly included two reaction time tasks to assess verbal working memory (Sternberg task) and rhythm entrainment (timing task). Intervention effects were determined using a "group × time" analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results

The intervention effects were detected on the reaction time in Sternberg task and phonological verbal fluency. Although intervention effects had been reported on Logical Memory test, Digit Symbol Coding Test and Trail Making Test in previous studies with longer training periods, the present study did not show such effects. Instead, the test-retest practice effect, indicated by significant improvement in the control group, was significant on these tests.

Discussion

The present results indicated the usefulness of working memory assessments (Verbal Fluency Test and Sternberg task) in detecting the effects of short-term melodica training in healthy older adults. The practice effect detected on those three tasks may be due to the shorter interval between pre- and post-intervention assessments and may have obscured intervention effects. Additionally, the findings suggested the requirement for an extended interval between pre- and post-tests to capture rigorous intervention effects, although this should be justified by a manipulation of training period.

Effects of Near-Infrared Pulsed Light on the Attention of Human Beings Using Electroencephalography

In our previous studies, photobiomodulation (PBM) stimulation can induce significant brain activation in normal subjects. In an open-eye study, the PBM stimulation was able to increase the power of alpha rhythms and theta waves, as well as decrease the beta activities after PBM stimulation. However, in the closed eyes study, the alpha rhythms in the laser group were reduced. This means the PBM stimulation can induce specific brainwaves under different conditions. Thus, to investigate the effects of PBM stimulation on human's attention, forty students were recruited in this single-blind randomized trial. A PBM stimulator, with seven pcs laser diodes (LDs), frequency 10 Hz, 30 mW/each LD, and wavelength 830 nm, was used to radiate the palm of the subject. PBM stimulation was found to induce significant variation in beta activity in most of the regions of the brain in the laser group. Compared to the placebo group, the PBM stimulation has a significant change in beta activity on electroencephalography (EEG). Three types of tests, the random number test, the Stroop color-word test, and the Multiple-Dimension Attention Test (MDAT), were used to evaluate the effects of the PBM stimulation. The scores of MDAT in the laser group increased more significantly than those in the placebo group after PBM stimulation (p < 0.01). An improvement in attention was observed in this study.

Quality standards and recommendations for research in music and neuroplasticity

Research on how music influences brain plasticity has gained momentum in recent years. Considering, however, the nonuniform methodological standards implemented, the findings end up being nonreplicable and less generalizable. To address the need for a standardized baseline of research quality, we gathered all the studies in the music and neuroplasticity field in 2019 and appraised their methodological rigor systematically and critically. The aim was to provide a preliminary and, at the minimum, acceptable quality threshold-and, ipso facto, suggested recommendations-whereupon further discussion and development may take place. Quality appraisal was performed on 89 articles by three independent raters, following a standardized scoring system. The raters' scoring was cross-referenced following an inter-rater reliability measure, and further studied by performing multiple ratings comparisons and matrix analyses. The results for methodological quality were at a quite good level (quantitative articles: mean = 0.737, SD = 0.084; qualitative articles: mean = 0.677, SD = 0.144), following a moderate but statistically significant level of agreement between the raters (W = 0.44, χ² = 117.249, p = 0.020). We conclude that the standards for implementation and reporting are of high quality; however, certain improvements are needed to reach the stringent levels presumed for such an influential interdisciplinary scientific field.

Experience of Playing a Musical Instrument and Lifetime Change in General Cognitive Ability: Evidence From the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

We tested whether experience of playing a musical instrument was associated with lifetime change in cognitive ability. Participants were 366 older adults from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 who had completed general cognitive-ability assessments at ages 11 and 70 and reported their lifetime experience of playing a musical instrument at age 82. This sample included 117 participants with musical-instrument experience, mostly at a beginner or an intermediate level. There was a small, statistically significant positive association between experience of playing a musical instrument and change in general cognitive ability between ages 11 and 70; specifically, individuals with more musical-instrument experience were likely to show greater gains in general cognitive ability. This association was reduced but remained statistically significant following adjustment for covariates (childhood and adulthood socioeconomic status, years of education, and disease history). These findings suggest that playing a musical instrument is associated with a long-term cognitive advantage.

A Pilot Study Examining the Effects of Music Training on Attention in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)

Prior studies indicate differences in brain volume and neurophysiological responses of musicians relative to non-musicians. These differences are observed in the sensory, motor, parietal, and frontal cortex. Children with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) experience deficits in auditory, motor, and executive function domains. Therefore, we hypothesized that short-term music training in children with an FASD due to prenatal alcohol exposure may improve brain function. Children (N = 20) with an FASD were randomized to participate in either five weeks of piano training or to a control group. Selective attention was evaluated approximately seven weeks apart (pre-/post-music training or control intervention), examining longitudinal effects using the Attention Networks Test (ANT), a well-established paradigm designed to evaluate attention and inhibitory control, while recording EEG. There was a significant group by pre-/post-intervention interaction for the P250 ms peak of the event-related potential and for theta (4-7 Hz) power in the 100-300 ms time window in response to the congruent condition when the flanking stimuli were oriented congruently with the central target stimulus in fronto-central midline channels from Cz to Fz. A trend for improved reaction time at the second assessment was observed for the music trained group only. These results support the hypothesis that music training changes the neural indices of attention as assessed by the ANT in children with an FASD. This study should be extended to evaluate the effects of music training relative to a more closely matched active control and determine whether additional improvements emerge with longer term music training.

Cognitive and academic benefits of music training with children: A multilevel meta-analysis

Music training has repeatedly been claimed to positively impact children's cognitive skills and academic achievement (literacy and mathematics). This claim relies on the assumption that engaging in intellectually demanding activities fosters particular domain-general cognitive skills, or even general intelligence. The present meta-analytic review (N = 6,984, k = 254, m = 54) shows that this belief is incorrect. Once the quality of study design is controlled for, the overall effect of music training programs is null ([Formula: see text] ≈ 0) and highly consistent across studies (τ2 ≈ 0). Results of Bayesian analyses employing distributional assumptions (informative priors) derived from previous research in cognitive training corroborate these conclusions. Small statistically significant overall effects are obtained only in those studies implementing no random allocation of participants and employing non-active controls ([Formula: see text] ≈ 0.200, p < .001). Interestingly, music training is ineffective regardless of the type of outcome measure (e.g., verbal, non-verbal, speed-related, etc.), participants' age, and duration of training. Furthermore, we note that, beyond meta-analysis of experimental studies, a considerable amount of cross-sectional evidence indicates that engagement in music has no impact on people's non-music cognitive skills or academic achievement. We conclude that researchers' optimism about the benefits of music training is empirically unjustified and stems from misinterpretation of the empirical data and, possibly, confirmation bias.

The Effect of Music Intervention on Attention in Children: Experimental Evidence

Although music has been utilized as a therapeutic tool for children with cognitive impairments, how it improves children’s cognitive function remains poorly understood. As a first step toward understanding music’s effectiveness and as a means of assessing cognitive function improvement, we focused on attention, which plays an important role in cognitive development, and examined the effect of a music intervention on children’s attention. Thirty-five children, aged 6 to 9 years, participated in this study, with data from 29 of the children being included in the analysis. A single 30-minute interactive music intervention was compared with a single 30-minute interactive video game intervention accompanied by computer-generated background music using a within-subjects repeated-measures design. Each intervention was implemented individually. Participants completed a standardized attention assessment, the Test of Everyday Attention for Children, before and after both interventions to assess changes in their attentional skills. The results indicated significant improvement in attention control/switching following the music intervention after controlling for the children’s intellectual abilities, while no such changes were observed following the video game intervention. This study provides the first evidence that music interventions may be more effective than video game interventions to improve attention control in children, and furthers our understanding of the importance of music interventions for children with attention control problems.

Improvement of Attention in Elementary School Students through Fixation Focus Training Activity

The attentional problems of school children are a crucial topic due to abundant information in this digital era. There are five attention dimensions for children: focused attention, sustained attention, selective attention, alternating attention, and divided attention. Focused training is a traditional method of improving attention ability. Subjects are required to focus on a fixed point for an extensive period without blinking and to perceive small objects as large. This study investigates which types of attention indicators are influenced by focus training. Eighty-two grade five and six elementary school students (45 experiment group, 37 control group) were involved. The experiment group underwent focus training for 12 weeks. The training was conducted once per week, and the Attention Scales for Elementary School Children were used before and after the training to examine the children's attention. The percentile rank scores of five attention dimensions and the total attention scale were evaluated. The results gave difference data, defined as post-test results minus the pretest results, where significant differences occurred for the total scale (p < 0.05), focused attention (p < 0.05), and selective attention (p < 0.01). Participants also noted that the training helped them improve concentration during school lessons (54.15%), fall asleep (29.1%), and relax the body (8.4%).

Selectively Enhanced Development of Working Memory in Musically Trained Children and Adolescents

In the current longitudinal study, we investigated the development of working memory in musically trained and nontrained children and adolescents, aged 9-20. We measured working memory with the Digit Span (DS) forwards and backwards tests (N = 106) and the Trail-Making A and B (TMT-A and B; N = 104) tests three times, in 2011, 2013, and 2016. We expected that musically trained participants would outperform peers with no musical training. Indeed, we found that the younger musically trained participants, in particular, outperformed their nontrained peers in the TMT-A, TMT-B and DS forwards tests. These tests all primarily require active maintenance of a rule in memory or immediate recall. In contrast, we found no group differences in the backwards test that requires manipulation and updating of information in working memory. These results suggest that musical training is more strongly associated with heightened working memory capacity and maintenance than enhanced working memory updating, especially in late childhood and early adolescence.