No impact of parental singing during the neonatal period on cognition in preterm‐born children at 2–3 years

Abstract

Aim: Studies examining the long-term effects of neonatal music interventions on the cognition of children born preterm are scarce. We investigated whether a parental singing intervention before term age improves cognitive and language skills in preterm-born children. Methods: In this longitudinal, two-country Singing Kangaroo, randomised controlled trial, 74 preterm infants were allocated to a singing intervention or control group. A certified music therapist supported parents of 48 infants in the intervention group to sing or hum during daily skin-to-skin care (Kangaroo care) from neonatal care until term age. Parents of 26 infants in the control group conducted standard Kangaroo care. At 2-3 years of corrected age, the cognitive and language skills were assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition.Results: There were no significant differences in cognitive and language skills between the intervention and control groups at the follow-up. No associations between the amount of singing and the cognitive and language scores were found. Conclusion:Parental singing intervention during the neonatal period, previously shown to have some beneficial short-term effects on auditory cortical response inThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Music Therapy in Infancy and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Preterm Children

“…Although we hypothesized that MT has an effect on language development at 24 months’ CA, the lack of favorable findings is consistent with recent studies demonstrating no clinically meaningful effects of creative MT on the BSID-III in 82 preterm children at 24 months’ CA and no effect of parent-led, infant-directed singing supported by a music therapist on BSID-III measured at age 2 to 3 years . Both the current study and recent studies used individually tailored MT during NICU hospitalization, emphasizing the communicative capacity of the infant.…”

“…Although we hypothesized that MT has an effect on language development at 24 months' CA, the lack of favorable findings is consistent with recent studies demonstrating no clinically meaningful effects of creative MT on the BSID-III in 82 preterm children at 24 months' CA 26 and no effect of parent-led, infant-directed singing supported by a music therapist on BSID-III measured at age 2 to 3 years. 27 Both the current study and recent studies used individually tailored MT during NICU hospitalization, emphasizing the communicative capacity of the infant. The results are also similar to those of a study of music-listening intervention during NICU hospitalization not involving a music therapist, 28 demonstrating no effect on the BSID-III cognitive, language, and motor domains in preterm children at 12 months.…”

“…[23][24][25] Three studies examined the effect of music interventions on neurodevelopment in preterm infants. [26][27][28] Although all 3 studies suggested no effect on neurodevelopmental outcomes, 1 study demonstrated the benefit of early music listening for emotional outcomes at ages 12 and 24 months. 28 All 3 studies used MT intervention delivered during NICU hospitalization.…”

“…An increasing number of studies describe the role of MT in promoting beneficial neuroplasticity in preterm children, and recent evidence shows promising short-term neurophysiological outcomes . Three studies examined the effect of music interventions on neurodevelopment in preterm infants . Although all 3 studies suggested no effect on neurodevelopmental outcomes, 1 study demonstrated the benefit of early music listening for emotional outcomes at ages 12 and 24 months .…”

Creative music therapy for long‐term neurodevelopment in extremely preterm infants: Results of a feasibility trial

“…5,6 In terms of long-term development, we found no substantial CMT treatment effect on language, cognitive and motor outcomes measured with Bayley-III in EPTs at 2 years, consistent with three other small studies investigating the long-term effect of music interventions in preterm infants. 10,11,21 Interestingly, these results contrast their primary trials' outcomes showing significantly enhanced brain network development 8,9 and neural processing of speech sound changes 22 at term equivalent age associated with better longterm language and cognitive outcomes in these trials. Several authors argue that the standardised neurodevelopmental assessment battery of the Bayley-III aims to detect developmental delay rather than study relevant changes of early interventions in preterm infants and may, therefore, not be sensitive enough to show intervention efficacy.…”