Investigation of the neurological effects of musical training in children with Down Syndrome
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Date
2024
Authors
McMullan, Eva
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that one in every 1000/1100 babies is born with Down Syndrome worldwide, with Ireland having the highest Down Syndrome occurrence than any other country, with 1-in-444 children being affected. It is characterised by physical growth delays, impaired sociability, anxiety symptoms, and intellectual disability. This cohort has differing capacities in executive function, attention, and learning and memory due to altered hippocampus and prefrontal cortex functions. Recent reports have suggested that music training could positively affect the cognitive and social abilities of children with Down Syndrome. However, we do not know if musical training improves sensory processing or higher-order areas in this cohort. This lack of understanding is detrimental to identifying the most effective means to enhance cognitive performance, relieve stress and improve the quality of life for those with an intellectual disability. Therefore, this study used a pre-post design to assess five types of cognitive processes, including learning and memory, sensory-motor skills, emotion regulation, social bonding, and executive function, before and after seven weeks of musical training. Saliva and hair samples were collected before and after the training sessions to examine concentrations of cortisol, which is linked to stress, and oxytocin, which is linked to social bonding. Temporal order judgement tasks, including both audio-visual blocks, were administered before and after the intervention period, as well as the Corsi Blocks test. In addition, all participants answered two questionnaires: Why Choose Music? (Paterson, 2008) and the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (Varni et al., 2001). The group that received the music intervention answered Daily Diaries and the Qualitative Description of Your Child’s Experience of the Music Intervention questionnaire. Due to the challenges experienced with recruiting, the saliva and hair samples could not be processed. The results from the Temporal Order Judgement and the Corsi Blocks tasks did not show any significant difference in this cohort's temporal perception and short-term spatial memory. There was no improvement in short-term spatial memory and temporal perception as a result of the music intervention, suggesting that those cognitive domains are not sensitive to a music intervention, at least as measured using these tasks. However, this could be because few participants completed the post-intervention measure. The other measures showed positive indicators of the emotional and social functions, as well as communication skills of those with Down Syndrome engaging with music. The diaries and the quantitative data saw sequential songs as the preferred musical activity when accompanied by actions. This led to perceived improvements in learning and memory that impacted communication skills in those with Down Syndrome.
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Keywords
Down Syndrome , Music , Anatomy and Neuroscience , Cognition , Intervention , Neural education , Oxytocin , Cortisol
Citation
McMullan Glossop, E. M. M. 2024. Investigation of the neurological effects of musical training in children with Down Syndrome. MSc Thesis, University College Cork.