A study of effects of rehabilitation using music on attention and brain function in children with developmental disabilities

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24700573
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Kurashiki Sakuyo University
• Principal Investigator: Kasuya-Ueba Yuka くらしき作陽大学, 音楽学部, 講師 (60412219)
• Research Collaborator: TOICHI Motomi ; ZHAO Shuo ; LaGasse Blythe
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 音楽療法 / 音楽リハビリテーション / 注意機能 / 児童 / 脳活動 / 注意訓練 / 自閉症 / 発達障害

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Music has been clinically applied to address cognitive disorders of children; however, mechanism by how music improves cognitive functions of children remain poorly understood. In this study, I conducted an experiment to investigate the effect of music intervention on attention in typically developing children as a first step to investigate the effectiveness of music intervention of what cognitive functions are improved. Participants completed the standardized attention test before and after an interactive music activity and a video game activity. They showed a significant improvement in overall attention following the music activity. This study provides the first evidence that an interactive music activity can be effective to improve attention in children.
I also collected data of brain activities using near-infrared spectroscopy during the attention test. It is on the way to analyze the data using an originally-developed analysis software.

Free Research Field

音楽療法

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

児童の認知障害への対処法のひとつとして音楽が臨床応用されてきたが、音楽がどのような機序で認知機能を改善するのかについて多くは未知のままである。本研究において、音楽活動が児童の注意機能の改善に効果があることがわかり、音楽が注意をひきつけるだけでなく、注意の選択や分配など注意全般の訓練媒体となりうる可能性が示された。認知および行動発達の基盤となる注意機能訓練に音楽を用いる根拠が示され、児童らの快感情を刺激しながら行える認知訓練の効果を示唆しており、この成果は音楽リハビリテーションのみでなく、療育や教育などの分野にも重要な示唆を与えるものである。