Music class may help improve certain types of sound perception in deaf children who have cochlear implants, a new study hints.
Music class may help improve certain types of sound perception in deaf children who have cochlear implants, a new study hints.
Cochlear implants are small electronic devices that can give a sense of sound to people who are deaf or severely hard-of-hearing, helping them to understand speech and other sounds in their environment. The implants work by bypassing the damaged portions of the inner ear and directly stimulating the nerve involved with hearing (auditory nerve). Coupled with intensive post-implantation therapy, the implants can also help young deaf children learn to speak and understand language.
However, it is difficult for these children to enjoy music. To investigate whether previous musical education improves pitch perception ability in these children, researchers in Taiwan assessed 27 children, aged between 5 and 14 years, with cochlear implants for their ability to discern musical pitch - how high or low a musical note is. Thirteen of the children had attended standard music classes at the Yamaha Music School, which has centers around the world.
Pitch perception performance was better in children who had a cochlear implant and were older than 6 years than in those who were aged less than 6 years (i.e., preschool) but there was no correlation between pitch perception and the age of implantation, gender, or type of cochlear implant.
The children's correct response rate ranged anywhere from 9.5 percent to 92.5 percent, according to the researchers. Fifteen of the 27 were correct at least half of the time. Overall, the longer a child had had musical training, the better his or her pitch perception. One child with 20 months of training, for example, achieved the high score of 92.5 percent. Another child with three months of training was correct in pitch perception 56 percent of the time. Some children with no music training also performed well. One, for example, was correct 89 percent of the time.
The current study appears to be the first linking music classes to better music perception in children who became deaf before acquiring language. The fact that the duration of musical training correlated with pitch perception suggests that a structured training programme on music perception early in life should be incorporated into children's therapy after they receive a cochlear implant.
Cochlear implants are small electronic devices that can give a sense of sound to people who are deaf or severely hard-of-hearing, helping them to understand speech and other sounds in their environment. The implants work by bypassing the damaged portions of the inner ear and directly stimulating the nerve involved with hearing (auditory nerve). Coupled with intensive post-implantation therapy, the implants can also help young deaf children learn to speak and understand language.
However, it is difficult for these children to enjoy music. To investigate whether previous musical education improves pitch perception ability in these children, researchers in Taiwan assessed 27 children, aged between 5 and 14 years, with cochlear implants for their ability to discern musical pitch - how high or low a musical note is. Thirteen of the children had attended standard music classes at the Yamaha Music School, which has centers around the world.
Pitch perception performance was better in children who had a cochlear implant and were older than 6 years than in those who were aged less than 6 years (i.e., preschool) but there was no correlation between pitch perception and the age of implantation, gender, or type of cochlear implant.
The children's correct response rate ranged anywhere from 9.5 percent to 92.5 percent, according to the researchers. Fifteen of the 27 were correct at least half of the time. Overall, the longer a child had had musical training, the better his or her pitch perception. One child with 20 months of training, for example, achieved the high score of 92.5 percent. Another child with three months of training was correct in pitch perception 56 percent of the time. Some children with no music training also performed well. One, for example, was correct 89 percent of the time.
The current study appears to be the first linking music classes to better music perception in children who became deaf before acquiring language. The fact that the duration of musical training correlated with pitch perception suggests that a structured training programme on music perception early in life should be incorporated into children's therapy after they receive a cochlear implant.
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