Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30352997›Full record

Trial reportTranslational psychiatry2018

Music improves social communication and auditory-motor connectivity in children with autism.

Megha Sharda, Carola Tuerk, Rakhee Chowdhury, Kevin Jamey, Nicholas Foster, Melanie Custo-Blanch, Melissa Tan, Aparna Nadig, Krista Hyde

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Translational psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06016621 (A Randomised Controlled Trial on the Effectiveness of Improvisational Music Therapy for Autistic Children Aged 7 - 11 [Autism-CHIME Trial].), which is not on this map. Cited by 92 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
92citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06016621 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

A Randomised Controlled Trial on the Effectiveness of Improvisational Music Therapy for Autistic Children Aged 7 - 11 [Autism-CHIME Trial].

TypeinterventionalSponsorProf Simon Baron-CohenRan2023 to 2025Enrolled240ConditionsAutismArmsImprovisational Music Therapy
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

92 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  8. Music therapy for autistic people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022
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32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Megha ShardaInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada. megha.sharda@umontreal.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1288-9225
Carola TuerkInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada.
Rakhee ChowdhuryInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada.
Kevin JameyInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada.
Nicholas FosterInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada.
Melanie Custo-BlanchInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada.
Melissa TanWestmount Music Therapy, 4695 Maisonneuve Boulevard West, Westmount, QC, H3Z 1S4, Canada.
Aparna NadigCentre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Rabinovitch House, 3640 de la Montagne, Montreal, QC, H3G 2A8, Canada.
Krista HydeInternational Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Pavilion Marie-Victorin, 90 Avenue Vincent D'Indy, Montreal, QC, H2V 2S9, Canada.

Funding

CIHR
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Music has been identified as a strength in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder; however, there is currently no neuroscientific evidence supporting its benefits. Given its universal appeal, intrinsic reward value and ability to modify brain and behaviour, music may be a potential therapeutic aid in autism. Here we evaluated the neurobehavioural outcomes of a music intervention, compared to a non-music control intervention, on social communication and brain connectivity in school-age children (ISRCTN26821793). Fifty-one children aged 6-12 years with autism were randomized to receive 8-12 weeks of music (n = 26) or non-music intervention (n = 25). The music intervention involved use of improvisational approaches through song and rhythm to target social communication. The non-music control was a structurally matched behavioural intervention implemented in a non-musical context. Groups were assessed before and after intervention on social communication and resting-state functional connectivity of fronto-temporal brain networks. Communication scores were higher in the music group post-intervention (difference score = 4.84, P = .01). Associated post-intervention resting-state brain functional connectivity was greater in music vs. non-music groups between auditory and subcortical regions (z = 3.94, P < .0001) and auditory and fronto-motor regions (z = 3.16, P < .0001). Post-intervention brain connectivity was lower between auditory and visual regions in the music compared to the non-music groups, known to be over-connected in autism (z = 4.01, P < .00001). Post-intervention brain connectivity in the music group was related to communication improvement (z = 3.57, P < .0001). This study provides the first evidence that 8-12 weeks of individual music intervention can indeed improve social communication and functional brain connectivity, lending support to further investigations of neurobiologically motivated models of music interventions in autism.

Indexed as

CommunicationMusic TherapySocial BehaviorAuditory CortexAutism Spectrum DisorderBrainBrain MappingChildFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMotor CortexNeural PathwaysTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID30352997
PMCPMC6199253

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.