The effect of musical stimuli on the brainwave production of children

Journal/Book: Journal of Music therapy. 1978; US. National Association for Music Therapy. journal article.

Abstract: This study investigated the effect of musical stimuli on the alpha brainwave production of children. The purpose of the research was two-fold. First, the experiment investigated the effect of two musical stimuli and silence on alpha brainwave production in the temporal lobes of 30 children. Secondly, the experiment investigated the effect of music with text, music alone, and text alone on alpha brainwave production.The aural conditions were portions of a children's story. The dependent measures were the number of seconds producing alpha rhythms within each 2 minute aural condition, and scores on verbal comprehension questions about the story. Analyses revealed significantly higher alpha production during the silence condition. No significant difference was shown between the other two aural conditions. Analysis of the time spent producing alpha in the second part of the study revealed no significant differences between the presentations of the story.

Keyword(s): children, brain-wave, musical-stimulus, alpha-state, alpha-activity.

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