Poster #17 - The Role of Verbal and Visual-Spatial Skills on a Musical vs. Traditional Working Memory Assessment in a Sample of Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

• In Event: Poster Session 07

Abstract

Background: Music therapy is considered beneficial for social and regulatory skills of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) (Cohen et al., 2021) and music perception is considered a strength for individuals on the Autism Spectrum, which is a sub-group within neurodevelopmental conditions (Heaton, 2009; Quintin, 2019). As such, assessing musical working memory may represent an alternative to traditional working memory testing for children with NDDs. Aspects of music-related cognition, namely musical working memory, has yet to be systematically assessed in neurodevelopmental disorders as a group, and how musical working memory relates to cognition.

Objectives: This study investigates and the performance of children with neurodevelopmental disorders on traditional vs. musical working memory tasks and to whether task performance is associated to verbal and visual spatial skills, given heterogenous cognitive profiles associated with NDDs.

Methods: Seventy-three children with NDD participated in this study (age= 8-16, M=11.85, SD=1.99, male n=55). To assess musical working memory, sequences of 3, 4, and 5 pitches were presented in pairs to participants who were asked to identify whether sequence-pairs were similar or different. Total performance (3,4, and 5 pitch sequences combined) on the musical working memory (MWM) task was calculated as Hits minus False Alarms (Hit-FAs). The Working Memory Index (WMI) subtests (i.e., Digit and Picture Span) of the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fifth Edition (WISC-V) were used as measures of traditional working memory. The Verbal (VCI) and Visual Spatial (VSI) Indices of the WISC-V (cognitive correlates) were obtained to assess their potential correlation with both the MWM task total performance (Hit-FAs Total) and the WMI scores.

Results: A significant correlation was found between MWM task performance and the VSI (p=.004), but performance on the MWM task was not significantly correlated with the WMI score (p=.32) nor with the VCI score (p=.81). In comparison, the WMI score was significantly correlated with both the VCI (p< .00) and the VSI (p<.014) scores.

Conclusions: Our findings reveal that children with NDDs’ performance on both traditional and musical working memory were associated with visual-spatial skills, a well-documented strength of persons on the Autism Spectrum and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Furthermore, in comparison to traditional working memory tasks, musical working memory seems independent of verbal abilities which is often an area that is less developed and more challenging for children with NDD. The use of traditional cognitive testing relying on verbal skills may therefore not provide an accurate measurement of the cognitive abilities of this group. Results provide preliminary evidence for the use of music as a strength-based modality to assess the working memory abilities of children with NDD.

Authors

• Gwenaëlle Philibert-Lignières, McGill University
  Presenting Author

• Barbara Tillmann

• Armando Bertone, Université de Montréal

• Eve-Marie Quintin, McGill University