Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Detailed Description
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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 Dance intervention group 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).

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

Conditions
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Cognitive Change

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Music Training
* Behavioral: Dance Training


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Monolingual Exclusion Criteria: Developmental delays or learning disabilities Previous arts training (in dance, drama, or music)

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 6 Years
Maximum Age: 9 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Music Training<br>Music Training | Behavioral: Music Training<br>* 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.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Dance Training<br>Dance Training | Behavioral: Dance Training<br>* 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.<br>|
| No Intervention: Passive control group<br>Passive control group | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in visuospatial working memory | Self-ordered pointing task (Cragg & Nation, 2007) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in interference control on flanker | Flanker task (Bunge, Dudukovic, Thomason, Vaidya, & Gabriela, 2002) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in color-shape task switching | color-shape task (Wiseheart, Viswanathan, & Bialystok, 2015) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in verbal working memory | Digit span (Weschler, 2008) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in interference control on Stroop | Stroop task (Cepeda, Blackwell, & Munakata, 2013) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in quantity-identity task switching | quantity-identity task (Cepeda, Cepeda, & Kramer, 2000) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in processing speed using box completion | Box completion (Salthouse, 1993) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in Non-verbal intelligence | Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT-2; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in Receptive vocabulary | Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV; Dunn, Dunn, & Lenhard, 2015) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in processing speed using digit symbol | Digit symbol (Weschler, 1991) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) | 
| Change in processing speed using symbol copy | Symbol copy (Weschler, 1991) | Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap) |