Music for autism
When words fall short - can music open doors?
Can music make it easier for children with autism to communicate and take part?
Music for Autism explores how music therapy affects children with autism—both in everyday life and in the brain. The aim is to understand whether music can strengthen social interaction, quality of life, and mental health.
Children aged 6–12 take part in the study over several months, receiving music therapy as part of the programme. At the same time, advanced methods such as brain imaging are used to understand what is actually happening—and why it works for some.
Researchers are not only asking whether it works, but also who it works best for.
The goal is to develop better, more tailored support—where music can become an important part of the toolkit.
Music for Autism (M4A) is the first European research project to examine the effects of music therapy on social communication and participation, quality of life, and mental health, as well as functional brain connectivity and brain structure in children with ASD.
Awarded grants
10 000 000
NOKRecipient
Norce
Project
Music for autism (M4A)
Project period
2021
2023
Awarded grants
10 000 000
NOKPre-registration
Other scientific publications
June 13-16, 2024: The Neurosciences and Music VIII "Wiring, re-wiring, and well-being" | Helsinki, Finland & online. Poster presentation "Music therapy and predictive ability in children with autism" by Asena U. Koçan, Alexander Groessing, Marianna Ruiz, Alexandrina Guran, Nace Mikus, Maj-Britt Posserud, Karsten Specht, Christian Gold, and Giorgia Silani.
June 13-16, 2024: The Neurosciences and Music VIII "Wiring, re-wiring, and well-being" | Helsinki, Finland & online. Poster presentation "Neurobehavioral outcomes of music therapy for autistic children" by Marianna Ruiz, Maayan Salomon-Gimmon, Alexander Groessing, Asena U. Koçan, Maj-Britt Posserud, Karsten Specht, Giorgia Silani, and Christian Gold
June 13-16, 2024: The Neurosciences and Music VIII "Wiring, re-wiring, and well-being" | Helsinki, Finland & online. Poster presentation "Neurobehavioral outcomes of music therapy for autistic children" by Marianna Ruiz, Maayan Salomon-Gimmon, Alexander Groessing, Asena U. Koçan, Maj-Britt Posserud, Karsten Specht, Giorgia Silani, and Christian Gold.
March 25-28, 2024: Society for Social Neuroscience 2024 annual meeting| Tsukuba, Japan. Poster presentation "Music therapy and predictive ability in children with autism" by Asena U. Koçan, Alexander Groessing, Marianna Ruiz, Alexandrina Guran, Nace Mikus, Maj-Britt Posserud, Karsten Specht, Christian Gold, and Giorgia Silani.
June 15-17, 2023: MEi:CogSci Conference 2023 | Budapest, Hungary. Paper presentation “Exploring empathy in music therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder” by Alyssa Hawkins (University of Vienna)
May 3-6, 2023: INSAR 2023 ANnual Meeting | Stockholm, Sweden. Paper presentation “Music therapy for autistic people: Update of a Cochrane Review” by Laura Fusar-Poli, Marianna Ruiz, Monika Geretsegger, Cochavit Elefant, Giovanni Vitale, and Christian Gold
