Music and Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

This chapter discusses the importance of musical interventions in neurodevelopment, highlighting the therapeutic effects of music in different brain areas and for different neurodevelopmental disorders. Music involves perceptual-motor and executive brain functions, transforming physical signals into emotional states and affecting physiological rhythms. Music processing requires several brain areas related to the perception of volume, timbre, rhythm, gestalt, and the pleasure and reward system. In the chapter, the authors present studies showing the effect of music on cognition and socio-emotional skills in children with typical and atypical development, such as children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder, Language Disorder, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Finally, the authors present evidence that musical interventions can be useful tools in the rehabilitation of neurodevelopmental disorders, providing several therapeutic benefits.