Influence of Intensive Ensemble Music Training on Children from a Lower Socioeconomic Status: An ERP Study

Low socioeconomic status (SES) children may experience positive outcomes through interventions. OrKidstra, an intervention program, provides musical training to low SES children in an intensive, ensemble, and social setting. This study examined the effect of OrKidstra training on children through an auditory Go/No-Go task with tone-locked (1100 and 2000Hz) Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). OrKidstra children demonstrated higher auditory discrimination than the comparison group for tones at 500, 1000, and 2000Hz during a hearing test, but accuracy and reaction times did not differ for the Go/No-Go task. ERP analyses revealed that OrKidstra children showed a greater spread of neural activity for auditory perception (pre-P300), they had earlier but smaller P300 peaks (associated with stimulus evaluation), and the late potentials (associated with inhibitory control) were more widely distributed. This study suggests that OrKidstra children tend to experience faster and more efficient neural processing to auditory stimuli, and emphasizes the importance of such interventions.