Pregnancy
Conditions
Keywords
Neural encoding, Prenatal music, Language, Cognitive, EEG, Music exposure, Pregnancy, Predictive model
Brief summary
The goal of this randomized controlled study is to evaluate the effect of prenatal music exposure on infants through two years of age. The study addresses two primary questions: * Whether prenatal music exposure enhances neural encoding of speech and improve language and cognitive outcomes during the first two years of life among fetuses * Whether predictive models can be developed from available fetal data to forecast individual differences in developmental outcomes among fetuses exposed to prenatal music. Participants will engage in music listening or self-learning five days a week until delivery. After the participants give birth, the children will be followed up on their neural responses to speech, as well as their language and cognitive development, until they reach two years of age. The investigators will compare the effects of low- and high-dose prenatal music exposure with a control group receiving education and develop models to predict outcomes in fetuses exposed to prenatal music.
Detailed description
\[BACKGROUND\] Fetuses can hear in the womb from as early as 20 weeks of gestation. Research has shown that prenatal music and spoken language experiences are related to better neural and behavioral outcomes at birth. These findings, though focused on outcomes shortly after birth, are consistent with a larger body of research showing positive effects of postnatal music training on children's language and cognitive outcomes. \[AIM OF STUDY\] Objective 1: To examine whether prenatal music exposure leads to better neural encoding of speech and better language and cognitive developmental outcomes up to two years of life. Objective 2: To construct predictive models using fetal data (e.g., fetal brain MRI and ultrasound data, if available) to forecast individual differences in developmental outcomes among fetuses exposed to prenatal music. \[HYPOTHESIS\] The investigators hypothesize that prenatal music exposure can strengthen a fetus's neural encoding of speech from birth, leading to better language and cognitive development in early childhood. The investigators further hypothesize that, despite the expected heterogeneity in intervention effects, fetal features can predict how much a fetus would benefit from prenatal music exposure.
Interventions
OTHERHigh dose music Exposure
Participants will be exposed to children's songs in various languages for 40 minutes daily, five days per week, with 80% of songs presented at approximately 75 dB SPL and 20% at approximately 10 dB SPL.
OTHEREducation
Participants will learn independently from short educational videos and audios on pregnancy, maternal and child health, and parenting, five days a week.
OTHERLow dose music exposure
Participants will be exposed to children's songs in various languages for 15 minutes daily, five days per week, with 20% of songs presented at approximately 75 dB SPL and 80% at approximately 10 dB SPL.
Sponsors
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* residents of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) with Cantonese and/or Putonghua being the primary home language(s) * aged 18 years or above * single fetus pregnancy * Less than 32 weeks of gestation
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neural encoding of speech as measured by EEG | Birth to 1 month, and at 6, 12, and 24 months of age | Comparing the ability of neural encoding of speech as measured by EEG between groups. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Communicative Development Inventories (CCDI) | 12, and 24 months old | Comparing language and communicative abilities, as measured by the Chinese Communicative Development Inventories (CCDI), between groups. |
| Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 4th Edition (Bayley-4) | 6, 12, and 24 months old | Five developmental domains (and subdomains): Cognitive, Language (Receptive and Expressive Communication subdomains), Motor (fine and gross motor subdomains), Social-emotional, and Adaptive Behavior will be assessed and compared across groups. The domain standard scores range from 45-155, and the subdomain scaled scores range from 1- 19 . Higher scores indicate better outcomes. |
Countries
China, Hong Kong
Contacts
CONTACTPeggy Chan, PhD
Outcome results
None listed