Music Training Can Improve Music and Speech Perception in Pediatric Mandarin-Speaking Cochlear Implant Users.

The paper states there was no proper control group and that experimental blinding seems warranted. Sixteen CI children were tested at one center, and the group was limited to prelingually deaf Mandarin-speaking children. Children also attended regular classes at the rehabilitation center, where speech perception was largely learned, so the contribution of the training alone cannot be separated. Gains varied widely, and the reported ranges included negative gains for melodic contour and sentence recognition. Posttraining CI scores remained much poorer than normal-hearing peers. A small group of six CI users measured at the same intervals showed no significant change over time, but it was not a proper control group.

No author conflict-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text. The paper is marked as supported by NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research funding.

Do not read the gains as proof that melodic contour training alone caused better speech. The children also attended regular classes at the rehabilitation center, the study had no proper control group or blinding, and posttraining CI scores remained much poorer than normal-hearing peers.