Benefits of Music Training for Perception of Emotional Speech Prosody in Deaf Children With Cochlear Implants.

Only 18 children completed the study, so the sample was small. Assignment was not fully randomized: families could choose a training location, and location determined group assignment; only 6 participants without a location preference were fully randomized. The amount of home practice was not recorded, so the dose of training actually received is uncertain. Music lessons included theory, song learning, vocal rehearsal, and home practice, so the study does not identify which component produced the gains. There was no long-term follow-up, so it is unclear whether any gains persisted after training ended. For emotional prosody, the change over time was not significantly different between music and art groups, so the within-group improvement in the music group cannot be treated as a clear advantage over painting. The authors note possible test-retest familiarity effects, especially for audiovisual emotion trials. All participants were enrolled in oral communication school programs, so the results may not apply to children with cochlear implants who use other communication approaches.

Do not conclude that piano training is proven to improve emotional prosody in children with cochlear implants. The music group improved on voice-only emotion scores, but the change over time was not significantly different from the painting group, and the study had only 18 completed participants.