Much evidence shows that music training influences the development of functional brain organization and cerebral asymmetry in an auditory-motor integrative neural system also associated with language and speech. Such overlap suggests that music training could be used for interventions in disadvantaged populations. Accordingly, we investigated neurofunctional changes associated with the influence of socially based classical ensemble music (CEM) training on executive auditory functions of children from low socioeconomic status (LSES), as compared to untrained counterparts. We conducted a novel ROI-focused reanalysis of stimulus-locked event-related electroencephalographic (EEG) band power data previously recorded from fifteen LSES children (9–10 years), with and without CEM, while performing a series of auditory Go/No-Go trials (involving 1100 Hz or 2000 Hz tones). An analysis of collapsed Alpha2, Beta1, Beta2, Delta, and Theta EEG bands showed significant differences in increased and decreased left asymmetry between the CEM and the Comparison group in key frontal and central electrodes typically associated with learning music. Overall, in Go trials, the CEM group responded more quickly and accurately. Linear regression analyses revealed both positive and negative correlations between left hemispheric asymmetry and behavioral measures of PPVT score, auditory sensitivity, Go accuracy, and reaction times. The pattern of results suggests that tone frequency and EEG asymmetries may be attributable to a shift to left lateralization as a byproduct of CEM. Our findings suggest that left hemispheric laterality associated with ensemble music training may improve the efficiency of productive language processing and, accordingly, may be considered as a supportive intervention for LSES children and youth.
We assessed the neurocognitive correlates of auditory executive attention in low socioeconomic status 9–12-year-old children—with and without training in a social music program (OrKidstra). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during an auditory Go/NoGo task utilizing 1100 Hz and 2000 Hz pure tones. We examined Go trials, which required attention, tone discrimination and executive response control. We measured Reaction Times (RTs), accuracy and amplitude of relevant ERP signatures: N100-N200 complex, P300, and Late Potentials (LP). Children also completed a screening test for auditory sensory sensitivity and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV) to assess verbal comprehension. OrKidstra children had faster RTs and larger ERP amplitudes to the Go tone. Specifically, compared to their comparison counterparts, they showed more negative-going polarities bilaterally for N1-N2 and LP signatures across the scalp and larger P300s in parietal and right temporal electrodes; some enhancements were lateralized (i.e., left frontal, and right central and parietal electrodes). Because auditory screening yielded no between-group differences, results suggest that music training did not enhance sensory processing but perceptual and attentional skills, possibly shifting from top-down to more bottom-up processes. Findings have implications for socially based music training interventions in school, specifically for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.
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