Music training and auditory processing skills in children: a systematic review

Engel, Ana Clara; Bueno, Claudine Devicari; Sleifer, Pricila

doi:10.1590/2317-6431-2018-2116

Brasil

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Literature Review • Audiol., Commun. Res. 24 • 2019 • https://doi.org/10.1590/2317-6431-2018-2116 linkcopy

Music training and auditory processing skills in children: a systematic review

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Purpose To check the contribution of music training to auditory processing skills in children.

Research strategy A search was performed in October 2018, using the descriptors Music, Child, Childhood, Children, Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Auditory Perception, Auditory Processing, using the AND operator.

Selection criteria The main research question was: “What has been reported in the scientific literature about the contribution of musical training to auditory processing skills in children?” We selected only controlled clinical trials with the child population, studies published in English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Results The search strategy resulted in the selection of ten articles. The studies showed several skills tested and different forms of evaluation.

Conclusion Based on the findings, it can be concluded that music training improves auditory processing skills, so the longer the training time, the more these skills are reinforced. Thus, music training is an effective method that can be potentially used in children, both in the development of oral and written communication - to aid in the acquisition of auditory skills - and after acquisition, in order to improve such skills.

Keywords: Evoked potentials, auditory; Music; Auditory processing; Child; Review

Authors/Year/Country	Objective	Procedures	Age	Sample size	Stimulation Time
Moyeda (2017)⁽⁷⁾ Mexico	To check the effects of training on discrimination of tonal properties of musical stimuli for phonological awareness.	The Primary Measures of Music Audition (PMMA). Phonological Consciousness Battery.	Between 4 years and 6 months to 5 years and 3 months.	28 children.	20 sessions lasting for an average of 25 minutes; 6 evaluation sessions and 14 training sessions.
Habibi et al. (2016)⁽¹⁵⁾. USA	To investigate the effects of a music training program on the auditory development of children compared to children with sports training and without any training.	Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WISC-II). Tonal perception task. Tone / rhythm discrimination task. Long-latency auditory evoked potentials (stimuli used: violin, piano and pure tones). Electroencephalography (EEG).	At the beginning of the study, they were between 6 and 7 years old.	37 participants: 13 from the group with music training, 11 from the group with sports training and 13 from the group without training.	2 years.
Kraus and Strait (2015)⁽¹⁶⁾. USA	To investigate the emergence of biological markers of musicianship in children and adolescents who received musical training.	Frequency following response (FFR).	Not specified. The authors cited ‘children and adolescents’ only.	26 children with musical training.	1 - 3 years.
Moreno et al. (2015)⁽¹⁷⁾. Canada	To evaluate immediate and long-lasting effects of music training and second-language learning in early childhood.	Electroencephalography (EEG). Mismatch Negativity (MMN). Late Discriminative Negativity (LDN). Stimuli: vowels and musical notes.	Between 4 and 6 years of age.	36 participants, 18 in each group. After 1 year, 16 children from the French group and 14 from the music group returned for follow-up testing.	Two 1-hour sessions per day for 20 days.
Strait et al. (2013)⁽¹⁸⁾. USA	To determine the neural impact of music training by comparing auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) with speech stimuli in quiet and noisy backgrounds.	Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Frequency Following Response (FFR).	Between 3 and 5 years of age.	32 children. 18 musicians and 14 nonmusicians.	At least twelve consecutive months up to the test date.
Moreno and Besson (2005)⁽¹⁹⁾. France	To check the influence of music training on pitch processing.	Electroencephalography (EEG).	8 years.	20 children, 10 of whom received music training and 10 received painting training.	8 weeks.
Shahin et al. (2004)⁽²⁰⁾. Canada	To assess whether Auditory Evoked Potential components are sensitive to musical expertise in children and, if so, which components are affected.	Electroencephalography (EEG).	4 and 5 years.	Cross-sectional sample: 24 children without musical training. Sample training: 13 children: 7 with music training and 6 without training.	1 year.
Slater et al. (2015)⁽²¹⁾. USA	To check the influence of music training on speech-in-noise perception.	Wechsler Scale. The Hearing in Noise Test (HINT).	8 years.	46 children. Group 1: 19 Group 2: 27	Group 1: 1-year training. Group 2: 2-year training.
Chobert et al. (2012)⁽⁸⁾. France	To check the influence of music training on preattentive processing of syllable duration and voice onset time.	Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). Mismatch Negativity (MMN). Voice Onset Time (VOT). Electroencephalography (EEG).	8 - 10 years.	24 children. 12 in Group with music training and 12 in the Control Group.	12 months.
Moreno et al. (2008)⁽⁹⁾. Portugal	To assess the influence of music training on language skills in children.	Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Digit Span. Specific reading tests in Portuguese. Electroencephalography (EEG).	8 years.	32 children. 16 in the music group and 16 in the control group.	9 months.

Author/Year	Skills Tested	Results
Moyeda (2017)⁽⁷⁾.	Tone discrimination. Phonological awareness.	The study group showed improved discrimination of tone stimuli and greater phonological awareness, unlike the control group, although not significantly. The effects of tonal training are not conclusive on tone discrimination of musical stimuli or phonological awareness.
Habibi et al. (2016)⁽¹⁵⁾.	Tone and rhythm discrimination.	The children in the study group showed improved ability to detect changes in the tone environment and accelerated auditory processing maturation, which were not found in the other two comparison groups.
Kraus and Strait (2015)⁽¹⁶⁾.	Speech in noise. Reading.	Children who had received musical training showed better reading and speech-in-noise perception, as well as faster neural responses. Outcomes indicate that many of musicians' auditory-related biological enhancements emerge with training and may promote the acquisition of language skills, including in at-risk populations.
Moreno et al. (2015)⁽¹⁷⁾.	Perception of musical notes and vowels.	Soon after training, there was enhancement of LDN but not of MMN. After 1 year of training: Training-induced ERP responses were attenuated but persistent for both groups. Group with music training showed an effect in musical note and vowel perception tasks, but the effect in the group with French training remained only in one task, indicating a stronger effect of music training.
Strait et al. (2013)⁽¹⁸⁾.	Speech in noise.	Children with music training showed faster neural responses to speech in noise and quiet conditions, as well as a reduction in quiet-to-noise-delays. Test-retest data indicate that an additional year of continued music training further protects musicians' neural responses from the degrading effects of background noise.
Moreno and Besson (2005)⁽¹⁹⁾.	Pitch discrimination.	There was no difference between the groups before the training sessions. Afterwards, analysis of ERPs showed significant differences between the music and the painting groups. There was a decrease in amplitude after music training only in the study group. The difference was greater for the parietal regions. As the children of the music training group were particularly pitch-trained, processing may have become more automatic. Such decrease would consequently stem from automation of underlying processes which, therefore, require fewer and fewer neurons. The results showed some evidence of an influence of music training on pitch processing in language after just eight weeks of music training.
Shahin et al. (2004)⁽²⁰⁾.	Pitch discrimination.	Children with music training presented better responses in comparison to the control group. They obtained P2 enhancement specifically for the sound of the practice instrument. AEPs differed between children with music training and control children as young as 4 years of age, and the differences reflect a specific musical experience.
Slater et al. (2015)⁽²¹⁾.	Speech in noise.	Speech-in-noise perception improved significantly in the group with 2 years of training and was significantly higher in the group with 1 year of training in the third evaluation. The study provided longitudinal evidence that two years of musical training is associated with modest but clinically significant gains in the ability to understand speech in noise.
Chobert et al. (2012)⁽⁸⁾.	Preattentive processing. Syllable duration	No differences were found between groups before auditory training. Enhanced preattentive processing of syllable duration and VOT, as reflected by greater MMN amplitude, but not of vowel frequency, was found after only 12 months of training in the music group only.
Moreno et al. (2008)⁽⁹⁾.	Language skills. Reading. Perception of pitch changes in speech.	Children with music training showed improved reading and pitch processing skills.

Selected Studies	PEDro Scale Analysis
Selected Studies	External validity (Max = 1)	Internal validity (Max = 8)	Interpretable results (Max = 2)	Total score (Max = 11)
Moyeda⁽⁷⁾	1	4	2	7
Habibi et al.⁽¹⁵⁾	1	2	2	5
Kraus and Strait⁽¹⁶⁾	0	3	2	5
Moreno et al.⁽¹⁷⁾	1	4	2	7
Strait et al.⁽¹⁸⁾	1	3	2	6
Moreno and Besson⁽¹⁹⁾	1	3	1	5
Shanin et al.⁽²⁰⁾	1	1	2	4
Slater et al.⁽²¹⁾	1	3	2	6
Chobert et al.⁽⁸⁾	1	3	2	6
Moreno et al.⁽⁹⁾	1	4	2	7

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Academia Brasileira de Audiologia Rua Itapeva, 202, conjunto 61, CEP 01332-000, Tel.: (11) 3253-8711 - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: revista@audiologiabrasil.org.br

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[1] Subtitle: PMMA = The Primary Measures of Music Audition; WISC = Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; EEG = Electroencephalography; FFR = Frequency following response; MMN = Mismatch Negativity; LDN = Late Discriminative Negativity; HINT = The Hearing in Noise Test; VOT = Voice Onset Time