Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 22, 2026

Clinical Practice Protocol of Creative Music Therapy for Preterm Infants and Their Parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Published on: January 7, 2020
Music exposure and maturation of late preterm sleep-wake cycles: a randomised crossover trial
Adia Stokes1,2, Alexander G Agthe1,3, Dina El Metwally1,4
1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Aim:
To determine the effect of music on sleep-wake cycle (SWC) patterns in late preterm neonates.
Methods:
In a masked crossover study, infants between 32 and 36 6/7 weeks gestation were randomised to music exposure either during the first six or last six hours of a 12-hour observation period. SWC characteristics were determined by continuous amplitude-integrated electroencephalography (aEEG) read by two coders masked to exposure sequence. Analysis was performed in paired comparisons. ANOVA was used to assess the effects of music exposure, period and crossover on SWC outcomes: (i) Burdjalov Scores (BS) during active sleep (AS) (ii) per cent and duration of quiet sleep (QS).
Results:
Thirty infants were studied. A total of 222 QS cycles (median seven per patient; range five to 12) were analysed. Music exposure was associated with higher BS (F = 10.60, p = 0.0019) in AS and decreased interruptions during QS. The advanced postconceptual age (PCA) SWC pattern during AS was equivalent to a one-week mean. Number, duration and ratio of QS cycles did not change with music exposure.
Conclusion:
Music exposure elicits an increasing PCA pattern in AS and fewer interruptions in QS. Music may benefit sleep in late preterm infants.
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