Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children

May 17, 2017 updated by: Melody Wiseheart, York University

Cognitive Effects of Music and Dance Training in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The study used a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of two interventions (dance and musical training) for typically developing children. Interventions were run for three weeks in local community locations. Participants were tested before and after the intervention on a battery of cognitive and behavioural measures. They were compared across groups, and to a control group who do not receive the intervention.

The purpose of the current study was to assess the influence of dance and musical training on cognitive development. Research has indicated that musical training is associated with improve cognitive functioning, although the direction of such an association is unclear. Further, it is uncertain whether any benefits are specific to musical training or can also be demonstrated with other training activities. The current study used a randomized controlled trial to assess the causal effects of dance and musical training.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Participants Monolingual children aged between six and nine years old were recruited from two local communities in Ontario, Canada. Children with developmental delays, learning disabilities, or previous arts training were excluded from the study.

Participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups

  1. Dance intervention group
  2. Music intervention group

To establish baseline performance levels and have a comparison, a passive control group was collected from the same towns using the same exclusion criteria.

Data analysis Difference scores were calculated for each measure by subtracting each participant's second testing session data from the first. When appropriate, iterative trimming with a 3 SD cutoff was used, by subject and by condition, to remove outliers. Results for each measure were analyzed using one-way ANOVAs (analysis of variance) for the between-subjects factor of training group (music, dance, or control).

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
75

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 9 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Monolingual

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Developmental delays or learning disabilities
  • Previous arts training (in dance, drama, or music)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Music Training
Behavioral: Music Training
Training curriculums were developed using guidelines set by the Ontario Ministry of Education (The Ontario Curriculum, 2009) for teaching music to grades 1 to 3. Music was delineated into duration, pitch, dynamics and other expressive controls, timbre, texture/harmony, and form. training included direct instruction and group activities. All training programs had the same structure: a warm-up period, following by instruction from a teacher, and then group activities to practically demonstrate the concepts learned. Both programs involved working towards a variety of ensembles.
Active Comparator: Dance Training
Behavioral: Dance Training
As with music training, dance was operationally defined by fundamental concepts for the art form, namely elements for body, space, time, energy, and relationship. The intervention involved both individual and group activities, with a combination of instruction and practical activities, and preparation for a final performance.
No Intervention: Passive control group

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in visuospatial working memory
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Self-ordered pointing task (Cragg & Nation, 2007)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in interference control on flanker
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Flanker task (Bunge, Dudukovic, Thomason, Vaidya, & Gabriela, 2002)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in color-shape task switching
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
color-shape task (Wiseheart, Viswanathan, & Bialystok, 2015)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in verbal working memory
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Digit span (Weschler, 2008)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in interference control on Stroop
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Stroop task (Cepeda, Blackwell, & Munakata, 2013)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in quantity-identity task switching
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
quantity-identity task (Cepeda, Cepeda, & Kramer, 2000)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in processing speed using box completion
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Box completion (Salthouse, 1993)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in Non-verbal intelligence
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT-2; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in Receptive vocabulary
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV; Dunn, Dunn, & Lenhard, 2015)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in processing speed using digit symbol
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Digit symbol (Weschler, 1991)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Change in processing speed using symbol copy
Time Frame: Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)
Symbol copy (Weschler, 1991)
Before and after intervention (3 weeks gap)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
York University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 30, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 30, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 6, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 17, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 19, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 19, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 17, 2017

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • YorkU-MD1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Undecided

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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