Investigating music-based cognitive rehabilitation for individuals with moderate to severe chronic acquired brain injury: A feasibility experiment

Issue title: Advances in the Role of Music in Neurorehabilitation: Addressing Critical Gaps in Clinical Applications

Guest editors: Dr. Michael Thaut

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Jones, Cheryl^{a; b; c; *} | Richard, Nicole^a | Thaut, Michael^{d; e; f}

Affiliations: [a] University of Toronto, Canada | [b] Concordia University, Canada | [c] Wilfred Laurier University, Canada | [d] Neuroscience and Rehabilitation Science, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada | [e] CAMH Neuroimaging, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada | [f] Music and Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Cheryl Jones, 1980 Richardson Side Road, Ottawa, Ontario K0A 1L0, Canada. Tel.: +1 613 836 6503; E-mail: con.brio.piano@gmail.com.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Acquired brain injuries often cause cognitive impairment, significantly impacting participation in rehabilitation and activities of daily living. Music can influence brain function, and thus may serve as a uniquely powerful cognitive rehabilitation intervention. OBJECTIVE:This feasibility study investigated the potential effectiveness of music-based cognitive rehabilitation for adults with chronic acquired brain injury. METHODS:The control group participated in three Attention Process Training (APT) sessions, while the experimental group participated in three Music Attention Control Training (MACT) sessions. Pre-and post- testing used the Trail Making A & B, Digit Symbol, and Brown-Peterson Task as neuropsychological tests. RESULTS:ANOVA analyses showed no significant difference between groups for Trail A Test, Digit Symbol, and Brown-Peterson Task. Trail B showed significant differences at post-test favouring MACT over APT. The mean difference time between pre-and post-tests for the Trail B Test was also significantly different between APT and MACT in favour of MACT using a two-sample t-test as well as a follow-up nonparametric Mann Whitney U-test. CONCLUSIONS:The group differences found in the Trail B tests provided preliminary evidence for the efficacy of MACT to arouse and engage attention in adults with acquired brain injury.

Keywords: Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT), music, music therapy, intervention, efficacy, acquired brain injury (ABI), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Music Attention Control Training (MACT), Attention Process Training (APT), neurological rehabilitation, cognitive impairment, executive functioning, attention, working memory, randomized controlled trial, Trail Making Test, Brown-Peterson Task, Auditory Consonant Trigram, Digit Symbol Test, humans, female, male

DOI: 10.3233/NRE-208015

Journal: NeuroRehabilitation, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 209-220, 2021