Formal string instrument training in a class setting enhances cognitive and sensorimotor development of primary school children

James, Clara E.; Zuber, Sascha; Dupuis-Lozeron, Elise; Abdili, Laura; Gervaise, Diane; Kliegel, Matthias

doi:10.1101/829077

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite the less than encouraging evidence, dozens of new experimental investigations have been carried out in recent years, including the two largest randomized control trials (RCTs) in this field (Aleman et al, 2017;Haywood et al, 2015). Once again, the claims about the effectiveness of music training have been inconsistent across studies (e.g., James et al, 2019;Lukács & Honbolygó, 2019;Nan et al, 2018). We thus ran a meta-analysis including both old and new experimental studies to establish (a) which claims are justified, (b) what are the sources of heterogeneity across studies, and (c) which of the theories predicting that music training enhances cognitive and academic skills are corroborated/refuted.…”

Section: The Present Meta-analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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 (g ≈ 0) and highly consistent across studies (τ 2 ≈ 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 (g ≈ 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 metaanalysis 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.

show abstract

Section: The Present Meta-analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These structural differences are believed to indicate functional reorganization, which may be associated with benefits in certain cognitive functions for musically-trained individuals [12]. Studies in children have revealed cognitive advantages amongst those who have received musical training compared to those that did not [13][14][15][16]. For example, children in a 15-month musical intervention group saw greater improvements in overall cognitive performance compared to control groups of drama lessons and no intervention [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, children in a 15-month musical intervention group saw greater improvements in overall cognitive performance compared to control groups of drama lessons and no intervention [ 15 ]. Further, children in a two-year intensive musical instrument training program manifested broad cognitive benefits including working memory, attention, and processing speed compared to a musical listening and theory program control [ 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Musical instrument engagement across the life course and episodic memory in late life: An analysis of 60 years of longitudinal data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background As the global burden of dementia increases, the absence of treatment underscores the need for identification of factors that may improve cognitive reserve–the ability to stave off cognitive decline in old age. The beneficial association between musical instrument engagement and episodic memory has been identified in children, young adults, and older adults. Yet, previous studies in musical instrument engagement have rarely examined the potential for adolescence and adulthood exposures to independently improve cognition, nor have they been linked with the rate of memory decline over time in older adults. We investigated whether adolescent musical instrument engagement and continued musical instrument engagement over the adult life course were separately associated with higher episodic memory, as well as rate of decline in a large longitudinal cohort. Methods Data were from a prospective cohort of high school graduates from 1957. High school music engagement (HSME) was ascertained through graduate yearbooks and assessed as membership in musical performance groups. A questionnaire was used to assess musical engagement through adulthood (MEA) at ages 35, 55, and 65. The episodic memory score was composed of immediate and delayed recall task scores, and was assessed when participants were aged approximately 65 and 72 years old among 5,718 individuals. Linear mixed models were used to assess the association between music, and memory performance and decline over time. Results Of high school graduates who participated in the study, 38.1% played music in high school, and 21.1% played music in adulthood. While musical engagement was more common in those who played in childhood, 40% of those who played continuously as an adult did not play in high school. High HSME (B = 0.348, p = 0.049) and continuous MEA (B = 0.424, p = 0.012) were associated with higher memory scores at age 65 after covariate adjustment. When examining memory decline, the benefits of high HSME decreased over time (B = -0.435, p = 0.048), while the rate of decline did not differ between MEA groups. Exploratory models revealed differential benefits for HSME and immediate recall, and MEA and delayed recall. Conclusion This study provides further evidence that musical engagement in childhood or adulthood is associated with non-musical cognitive reserve. These two exposures may act differentially in different domains of episodic memory. Further work is needed to determine the relationship between musicianship and the rate of cognitive decline.

show abstract

“…The authors are also very grateful to the children and their parents for their precious collaboration. This manuscript has been released as a Pre-Print at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/829077v1 (James et al, 2019).…”

Section: Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formal String Instrument Training in a Class Setting Enhances Cognitive and Sensorimotor Development of Primary School Children

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This cluster randomized controlled trial provides evidence that focused musical instrumental practice, in comparison to traditional sensitization to music, provokes multiple transfer effects in the cognitive and sensorimotor domain. Over the last 2 years of primary school (10-12 years old), 69 children received group music instruction by professional musicians twice a week as part of the regular school curriculum. The intervention group learned to play string instruments, whereas the control group (i.e., peers in parallel classes) was sensitized to music via listening, theory and some practice. Broad benefits manifested in the intervention group as compared to the control group for working memory, attention, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, matrix reasoning, sensorimotor hand function, and bimanual coordination Apparently, learning to play a complex instrument in a dynamic group setting impacts development much stronger than classical sensitization to music. Our results therefore highlight the added value of intensive musical instrumental training in a group setting within the school curriculum. These results encourage general implementation of such training in public primary schools, thus better preparing children for secondary school and for daily living activities.

show abstract

Formal string instrument training in a class setting enhances cognitive and sensorimotor development of primary school children

Cited by 5 publications

References 55 publications

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

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

Musical instrument engagement across the life course and episodic memory in late life: An analysis of 60 years of longitudinal data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Formal String Instrument Training in a Class Setting Enhances Cognitive and Sensorimotor Development of Primary School Children

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About