Wilairat Khampan. The effects of background music on an attention task in AD/HD children : an electroencephalography study . Master's Degree(Neurosciences). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2007.
The effects of background music on an attention task in AD/HD children : an electroencephalography study
Abstract:
The core symptoms of Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) are
hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattentiveness. It was thought that an environment
shielded from noise would improve the focus and sustain the attention span of AD/HD
children. However, research has proven that this thought was unclear. Therefore, we
studied whether background music (Mozart’s sonata, K.448 and nonverbal pop music)
worsens or improves the cognitive performance in an attention-demanding task in
AD/HD children. 17 AD/HD boys and 16 healthy boys, all 10-12 years of age,
participated in the project. Electroencephalography recording was performed during a
baseline condition (eyes-open, eyes-closed) and a continuous performance task (CPT;
go/nogo paradigm) with and without the background music. At the ERP level, we found
that music had a negative impact on AD/HD children’s attentional control. This was
proven by decreased Go-P300 amplitude; however this Go-P300 amplitude did not affect
normal children’s attention. Furthermore, whereas pop music aided normal children in
inhibiting their prepared motor responses it did not benefit AD/HD children. Normal
children had a decreased number of commission errors, but AD/HD children did not. In
addition, we did not find a “Mozart” effect on either attentive or inhibitory control in
either group. The behavioral data is consistent with the ERP data, insofar as there are no
significant differences in omission errors (reflecting attentive control). At the EEG level,
both types of music did not improve the spectral brain activity in AD/HD children, but
Mozart’s music seems to have aggravated the abnormal pattern in the brain activity of
AD/HD children. This was reflected by their increased theta activity and decreased alpha
activity. In contrast, when the AD/HD children listened to pop music, this pattern was not
observed.