The effect of learning to drum on behaviour and brain function in autistic adolescents
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A recent study aimed to look into how drum training affects the behavior and brain function of autistic teenagers who have never played the drums before. The researchers recruited 36 autistic teenagers and split them into two groups randomly. One group received drum lessons on an individual basis, with two lessons each week over a period of 8 weeks. The other group, the control group, did not receive any drum training. They conducted tests before and after the 8-week period to assess the participants' drumming skills, brain activity using MRI scans, and their behavioral difficulties as reported by their parents through questionnaires.
The results showed that the autistic teenagers who received drum training displayed improvements in their drumming performance and also experienced a significant reduction in hyperactivity and inattention compared to the control group. The MRI scans revealed increased functional connectivity in specific areas of the brain responsible for inhibitory control, monitoring action outcomes, and self-regulation. They found particularly increased functional connectivity in the right inferior frontal gyrus and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex through seed-to-voxel analyses. Moreover, a multivariate pattern analysis demonstrated significant changes in various brain regions, including the medial frontal cortex, the left and right paracingulate cortex, the subcallosal cortex, the left frontal pole, the caudate, and the left nucleus accumbens.
I hope that these findings will contribute to further research and trials investigating the potential benefits of drum-based interventions for clinical populations with disorders related to inhibition, as well as emotional and behavioral difficulties. Perhaps I’ll start a drumline at my school…
The effect of learning to drum on behaviour and brain function in autistic adolescents
The effect of learning to drum on behaviour and brain function in autistic adolescents
The effect of learning to drum on behaviour and brain function in autistic adolescents
A recent study aimed to look into how drum training affects the behavior and brain function of autistic teenagers who have never played the drums before. The researchers recruited 36 autistic teenagers and split them into two groups randomly. One group received drum lessons on an individual basis, with two lessons each week over a period of 8 weeks. The other group, the control group, did not receive any drum training. They conducted tests before and after the 8-week period to assess the participants' drumming skills, brain activity using MRI scans, and their behavioral difficulties as reported by their parents through questionnaires.
The results showed that the autistic teenagers who received drum training displayed improvements in their drumming performance and also experienced a significant reduction in hyperactivity and inattention compared to the control group. The MRI scans revealed increased functional connectivity in specific areas of the brain responsible for inhibitory control, monitoring action outcomes, and self-regulation. They found particularly increased functional connectivity in the right inferior frontal gyrus and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex through seed-to-voxel analyses. Moreover, a multivariate pattern analysis demonstrated significant changes in various brain regions, including the medial frontal cortex, the left and right paracingulate cortex, the subcallosal cortex, the left frontal pole, the caudate, and the left nucleus accumbens.
I hope that these findings will contribute to further research and trials investigating the potential benefits of drum-based interventions for clinical populations with disorders related to inhibition, as well as emotional and behavioral difficulties. Perhaps I’ll start a drumline at my school…