Experimental Evidence on Connections between Speech and Music : Possible Applications on Learning

Peer reviewe

Planning music-based amelioration and training in infancy and childhood based on neural evidence

Music-based amelioration and training of the developing auditory system has a long tradition, and recent neuroscientific evidence supports using music in this manner. Here, we present the available evidence showing that various music-related activities result in positive changes in brain structure and function, becoming helpful for auditory cognitive processes in everyday life situations for individuals with typical neural development and especially for individuals with hearing, learning, attention, or other deficits that may compromise auditory processing. We also compare different types of music-based training and show how their effects have been investigated with neural methods. Finally, we take a critical position on the multitude of error sources found in amelioration and training studies and on publication bias in the field. We discuss some future improvements of these issues in the field of music-based training and their potential results at the neural and behavioral levels in infants and children for the advancement of the field and for a more complete understanding of the possibilities and significance of the training.Peer reviewe

Musiikki ja oppiminen aivotutkimuksen valossa

Peer reviewe

Promises of music in education?

Learning in school is intended to help students master academic skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as to acquire knowledge about different subjects such as history, geography, biology, and so on. However, in the future, successful learning will be largely manifested by students’ global and transferable skills, such as analytical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and social skills. Here we explore the promises of using music to support learning in the future. We review empirical evidence on the effects ofmusic learning on neurocognitive development in children in formal and informal settings, in music interventions, and also in community settings. With this review, we wish to stimulate discussion about the roles that music could play in promoting learning in schools and elsewhere.Peer reviewe

Musical playschool activities are linked to faster auditory development during preschool-age : a longitudinal ERP study

The influence of musical experience on brain development has been mostly studied in school-aged children with formal musical training while little is known about the possible effects of less formal musical activities typical for preschool-aged children (e.g., before the age of seven). In the current study, we investigated whether the amount of musical group activities is reflected in the maturation of neural sound discrimination from toddler to preschool-age. Specifically, we recorded event-related potentials longitudinally (84 recordings from 33 children) in a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm to different musically relevant sound changes at ages 2-3, 4-5 and 6-7 years from children who attended a musical playschool throughout the follow-up period and children with shorter attendance to the same playschool. In the first group, we found a gradual positive to negative shift in the polarities of the mismatch responses while the latter group showed little evidence of age-related changes in neural sound discrimination. The current study indicates that the maturation of sound encoding indexed by the MMN may be more protracted than once thought and provides first longitudinal evidence that even quite informal musical group activities facilitate the development of neural sound discrimination during early childhood.Peer reviewe

Promises of Music in Education?

Learning in school is intended to help students master academic skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as to acquire knowledge about different subjects such as history, geography, biology, and so on. However, in the future, successful learning will be largely manifested by students' global and transferable skills, such as analytical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and social skills. Here we explore the promises of using music to support learning in the future. We review empirical evidence on the effects of music learning on neurocognitive development in children in formal and informal settings, in music interventions, and also in community settings. With this review, we wish to stimulate discussion about the roles that music could play in promoting learning in schools and elsewhere

MUSIIKIN MERKITYS KUULOVIKAISEN LAPSEN KUNTOUTUKSESSA

Tässä artikkelissa esittelemme musiikin harrastamisen ja puhekielenkehityksen yhtymäkohtia. Tuomme esille myös alustavia tuloksia omastaseurantatutkimuksestamme, jossa tutkitaan puheen havaitsemistasisäkorvaistutetta (SI) käyttävillä lapsilla suhteessa musiikilliseenharrastuneisuuteen. Tärkeäksi havainnoksi nousi vanhempien laulamisenmerkitys kuulovikaiselle lapselle: mitä enemmän vanhemmat olivat laulaneetsisäkorvaistutetta käyttävälle lapselle, sitä paremmin lapsi havaitsi sana- jalausepainon. Aikuisjohtoinen, aktiivinen musiikkitoiminta näyttää vaikuttavankuulohavaintotaitoja edistävästi. Alustava johtopäätöksemme on, ettälaulamisen vaikutus perustuu sen taipumukseen herättää lapsen huomio sekälaulujen toistuviin ja kuulovikaiselle lapselle helpommin havaittaviin sävel-,voimakkuus- ja kestomuutoksiin. Tämä auttaa kuulovikaista lasta kiinnittämäänhuomion puheen prosodisiin piirteisiin vaikuttaen todennäköisesti puhekielenoppimiseen. Musiikkitoiminnan ja etenkin laulamisen pitäisikin kuuluakuulovikaisen lapsen kuntoutukseen ja arkielämään.Avainsanat: kuntoutus, laulaminen, musiikki, prosodia, puheen havaitseminen, sisäkorvaistute, kuulovikaKeywords: cochlear implant, hearing impairment, music, perception of speech, prosody,rehabilitation, singin