Music intervention for neurodevelopment in the pediatric population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to summarize and analyze current research on the effects of MI on neurodevelopment in children of all ages and health statuses to provide a reference for music therapy (MT) and its clinical research in pediatrics. We conducted a comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases up to December 2023, focusing on randomized controlled trials that evaluated neurodevelopmental outcomes following MI. Our analysis, which included seven studies involving 337 participants, employed standardized mean difference (SMD) calculations to assess outcomes across multiple neurodevelopmental scales. While no significant cognitive improvements were observed on the Bayley-III scale, positive effects were noted in language, motor skills, and IQ scores when assessed via Gesell, CSBQ, and IQ scales. Our research underscores the potential of music intervention in the process of children's neurodevelopment, including cognitive function, language, motor and IQ. Based on the limitations, researchers should carefully design their MI protocols, ensuring standardization and avoiding probable confounding factors such as regional specificity, age ranges and special populations, it will contribute to more robust results and improve the comparability of findings across studies.