The Unexpected Effect of Music Therapy on Health Revealed 0 12

Music therapy can significantly alleviate key behavioral manifestations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children — this conclusion was reached by Chinese researchers following a meta-analysis of 18 scientific studies. The analysis covered data from clinical studies that assessed the impact of music on the social, emotional, and communication skills of children with autism. The work was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

The results showed that music therapy sessions significantly reduced the severity of symptoms on two widely used scales — the Autism Behavior Checklist and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. The most noticeable improvements were observed in the social domain, behavior, and sensory sensitivity, as well as in emotional regulation and verbal skills compared to control groups.

The authors note that music likely affects several biological and neuropsychological mechanisms simultaneously — from emotion and attention regulation to the activation of neural networks associated with speech and social interaction. This makes music therapy a promising non-pharmacological approach in the absence of medications that effectively target the core symptoms of autism.

At the same time, the researchers emphasize that the obtained results should be interpreted with caution: some of the included studies had limitations in sample size and design. Nevertheless, the meta-analysis points to the potential of music therapy as an adjunctive method of support for children with ASD.