Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children

Cognitive Change Clinical Trial

Official title:

Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03160391
• Other study ID #: YorkU-MD1
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: May 6, 2017
• Last updated: May 17, 2017
• Start date: January 1, 2012
• Est. completion date: November 30, 2013

Study information

• Verified date: May 2017
• Source: York University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The study used a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of two interventions (dance and musical training) for typically developing children. Interventions were run for three weeks in local community locations. Participants were tested before and after the intervention on a battery of cognitive and behavioural measures. They were compared across groups, and to a control group who do not receive the intervention.

The purpose of the current study was to assess the influence of dance and musical training on cognitive development. Research has indicated that musical training is associated with improve cognitive functioning, although the direction of such an association is unclear. Further, it is uncertain whether any benefits are specific to musical training or can also be demonstrated with other training activities. The current study used a randomized controlled trial to assess the causal effects of dance and musical training.

Description:

Participants Monolingual children aged between six and nine years old were recruited from two local communities in Ontario, Canada. Children with developmental delays, learning disabilities, or previous arts training were excluded from the study.

Participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups

1. Dance intervention group

2. Music intervention group

To establish baseline performance levels and have a comparison, a passive control group was collected from the same towns using the same exclusion criteria.

Data analysis Difference scores were calculated for each measure by subtracting each participant's second testing session data from the first. When appropriate, iterative trimming with a 3 SD cutoff was used, by subject and by condition, to remove outliers. Results for each measure were analyzed using one-way ANOVAs (analysis of variance) for the between-subjects factor of training group (music, dance, or control).

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 75
• Est. completion date: November 30, 2013
• Est. primary completion date: November 30, 2013
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 6 Years to 9 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Monolingual

Exclusion Criteria:

• Developmental delays or learning disabilities

• Previous arts training (in dance, drama, or music)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cognitive Change

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Music Training
Training curriculums were developed using guidelines set by the Ontario Ministry of Education (The Ontario Curriculum, 2009) for teaching music to grades 1 to 3. Music was delineated into duration, pitch, dynamics and other expressive controls, timbre, texture/harmony, and form. training included direct instruction and group activities. All training programs had the same structure: a warm-up period, following by instruction from a teacher, and then group activities to practically demonstrate the concepts learned. Both programs involved working towards a variety of ensembles.
• Dance Training
As with music training, dance was operationally defined by fundamental concepts for the art form, namely elements for body, space, time, energy, and relationship. The intervention involved both individual and group activities, with a combination of instruction and practical activities, and preparation for a final performance.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
York University

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in visuospatial working memory	Self-ordered pointing task (Cragg & Nation, 2007)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Primary	Change in interference control on flanker	Flanker task (Bunge, Dudukovic, Thomason, Vaidya, & Gabriela, 2002)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Primary	Change in color-shape task switching	color-shape task (Wiseheart, Viswanathan, & Bialystok, 2015)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Primary	Change in verbal working memory	Digit span (Weschler, 2008)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Primary	Change in interference control on Stroop	Stroop task (Cepeda, Blackwell, & Munakata, 2013)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Primary	Change in quantity-identity task switching	quantity-identity task (Cepeda, Cepeda, & Kramer, 2000)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Secondary	Change in processing speed using box completion	Box completion (Salthouse, 1993)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Secondary	Change in Non-verbal intelligence	Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT-2; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Secondary	Change in Receptive vocabulary	Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV; Dunn, Dunn, & Lenhard, 2015)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Secondary	Change in processing speed using digit symbol	Digit symbol (Weschler, 1991)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Secondary	Change in processing speed using symbol copy	Symbol copy (Weschler, 1991)	Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)