Database of Musical Training Research on Underrepresented Populations: A Bibliometric Analysis (1995–2026)

Published: 10 August 2026| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/mrntwkds96.1
Contributors:
Weijia Yang,
,
,
,

Description

Based on the interdisciplinary perspective of cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology, this study focuses on underrepresented groups including individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, clinical rehabilitation populations, aging populations, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Adopting the PICO framework, this study formulated a standardized retrieval strategy and conducted systematic literature searches across three major databases (Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and PubMed) with hierarchical keyword expansion. It adopted conventional education or the absence of musical training as the control condition and covered multi-dimensional indicators of cognition, neural mechanisms, and developmental outcomes. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a four-stage screening procedure was implemented to filter a total of 2,187 initial records (1,205 from WOS, 755 from Scopus, and 227 from PubMed) through deduplication, topic screening, full-text accessibility verification, and in-depth eligibility evaluation. Ultimately, 80 high-quality core publications from 68 academic journals with 350 contributors — encompassing articles, reviews, theses, and other study types — were included. Integrating analytical tools including Zotero, Excel, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace, this study systematically analyzed the temporal distribution, collaboration networks, and thematic evolution of existing literature. A structured thematic database centering on “underrepresented groups — musical training — cognitive and neural development” was constructed to delineate the research status and evolutionary trends of this field, providing a replicable and standardized analytical paradigm for relevant music education policy formulation and population intervention research (PROSPERO Registration No.: CRD420261445677).

Files

Institutions

Categories

Psychology, Physiology, Music Therapy, Musical Acoustics

Funders

  • The Key Laboratory of Digital Music Intelligent Processing Technology of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Zhejiang Conservatory of Music)
    Grant ID: 2023DMKLB001

Licence