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Does music training improve inhibition control in children? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Kevin JameyNicholas E V FosterKrista L HydeSimone Dalla Bella
Published in: Cognition (2024)
Inhibition control is an essential executive function during children's development, underpinning self-regulation and the acquisition of social and language abilities. This executive function is intensely engaged in music training while learning an instrument, a complex multisensory task requiring monitoring motor performance and auditory stream prioritization. This novel meta-analysis examined music-based training on inhibition control in children. Records from 1980 to 2023 yielded 22 longitudinal studies with controls (N = 1734), including 8 RCTs and 14 others. A random-effects meta-analysis showed that music training improved inhibition control (moderate-to-large effect size) in the RCTs and the superset of twenty-two longitudinal studies (small-to-moderate effect size). Music training plays a privileged role compared to other activities (sports, visual arts, drama) in improving children's executive functioning, with a particular effect on inhibition control. We recommend music training for complementing education and as a clinical tool focusing on inhibition control remediation (e.g., in autism and ADHD).
Keyphrases
  • systematic review
  • young adults
  • virtual reality
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • case control
  • working memory
  • attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
  • quality improvement