Behavioral and electrophysiological findings of central auditory processing in children and adolescents undergoing musical training.

Abstract

Purpose: This study analyzes the outcomes of behavioral and electrophysiological assessments of central auditory processing in children and adolescents undergoing musical training through clinical protocols or structured educational methods.

Research strategies: A systematic search was conducted in three electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus) between April and June 2024. Two researchers independently applied the following search terms combined with the Boolean operator "AND": "musical training," "child," and "adolescent."

Selection criteria: The PICOS framework guided the selection process, focusing on population (children and adolescents), intervention (musical training), comparison (with non-trained groups), outcome (central auditory processing effects), and study design (cohort, case-control, and randomized clinical trials).

Data analysis: Data were extracted and tabulated by the researchers and analyzed descriptively. Methodological quality was assessed using the NHLBI Quality Assessment Tool.

Results: Among 800 initial publications, five duplicates were removed. Of the remaining 795 studies, 783 did not meet the inclusion criteria. A full-text review of 12 studies led to the exclusion of one due to unavailability and four due to quality issues. Ultimately, seven articles were included.

Conclusion: The results highlight improvements in sound discrimination, speech-in-noise processing, environmental sound change detection, and selective attention. These findings underscore the necessity of avoiding overly brief training programs.