Effects of an Early Postnatal Music Intervention on Cognitive and Emotional Development in Preterm Children at 12 and 24 Months: Preliminary Findings

Abstract

Preterm birth is associated with a higher prevalence of neurodevelopmental deficits. Indeed, preterm children are at increased risk for cognitive, behavioral, and socio-emotional difficulties. There is currently an increasing interest in introducing music intervention in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) care. Several studies have shown short-term beneficial effects. A recent study has shown that listening to a familiar music (heard daily during the NICU stay) enhanced preterm infants’ functional connectivity between auditory cortices and subcortical brain regions at term-equivalent age. However, the long-term effects of music listening in the NICUs have never been explored. The aim of this study was to evaluate at 12 and 24 months the effects of music listening in the NICU on cognitive and emotional development in preterm children by comparing them to a preterm control group with no previous music exposure and to a full-term group. Participants were 44 children (17 full-term and 27 preterm). Preterm children were randomized to either music intervention or control condition (without music). The preterm-music group regularly listened to music from 33 weeks postconceptional age until hospital discharge or term-equivalent age. At 12 months, children were evaluated on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition, then with 4 episodes of the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (assessing expressions of joy, anger, and fear, and sustained attention). At 24 months, the children were evaluated with the same tests, and with 3 additional episodes of the Effortful Control Battery (assessing inhibition). Results showed that the scores of preterm children, music and control, differed from those of full-term children for fear reactivity at 12 months of age and for anger reactivity at 24 months of age. Interestingly, these significant differences were less important between the preterm-music and the full-term groups than between the preterm-control and the full-term groups. The present study provides preliminary, but promising, scientific findings on the beneficial long-term effects of music listening in the NICU on neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm children, and more specifically on emotion mechanisms at 12 and 24 months of age. Our findings bring new insights for supporting early music intervention in the NICU.

Preterm Birth and the Development of Visual Attention During the First 2 Years of Life

“…Eighteen eligible studies 48 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 with 18 effect sizes on measures of intensified or deliberate orienting to an object were included ( Figure 4 ). Preterm birth was associated with diminished focused attention (Cohen d , −0.28; 95% CI, −0.45 to −0.11; z , −3.25; P = .001).…”

“…During the past 50 years, a myriad of studies assessed the association between preterm birth and attention development in early life, but only a few reviews attempted to synthesize and generalize the findings. 29 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 Two notable reviews 83 , 84 from previous decades suggested that infants born preterm show less-optimal attention performance. However, because both reviews were nonsystematic and did not attempt a statistical synthesis, there was a necessity for a methodical review to revisit the important claims of the previous s...…”

Effect of music therapy on preterm infants in neonatal intensive care unit: Systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…In addition, qualified music therapists ought to use the reference guidelines necessarily to consider appropriate intervention time, frequency, and duration of music therapy (Robb et al, 2011). In recent years, more researchers have observed and studied the long brain function of preterm infant (Filippa et al, 2017), neural development (Detmer et al, 2020;Haslbeck &Bassler, 2018;Haslbeck et al, 2017), cognitive and emotional development (Lejeune et al, 2019), etc. Hopefully, more meaningful studies focusing on the long-term effects of music therapy will be published in future.…”

Sensory Stimulation in the NICU Environment: Devices, Systems, and Procedures to Protect and Stimulate Premature Babies

“…Such science is also suitable to be part of an integrated approach when combined with other types of treatments, such as Kangaroo Mother Care, infant massage, and gentle handling [ 34 ]. Music therapy proven beneficial effects are evident in the short term, but further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings, particularly for the infant’s neurodevelopment [ 35 ].…”