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A Study of the Efficacy of IAMT as an Assessment Tool for Prediction of Progression of Parkinson's Disease
Sponsor: Wilfrid Laurier University
Summary
The primary objective of this proposal is to examine the efficacy of Improvised Active Music Therapy (IAMT) sessions as an early novel tool for cognitive and motor assessment for individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD) in neurological rehabilitation. This will be achieved by identifying subtle variations in how participants play music and correlating these data with mobility and cognitive parameters. The secondary objective is to examine and understand the participants' experience of playing improvised music through post-session interviews as a qualitative measure. We propose to conduct a mixed-method, single-blinded, age-matched group comparison of 25 older adults (= 50 years) with PD and 25 healthy older adults (= 50 years) at the Conrad Institute for Music Therapy Research (CIMTR), Faculty of Music, Wilfrid Laurier University. The CIMTR laboratory contains Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) equipment/instruments and MATLAB software, which will be used to collect and analyze the music data to compare the two groups. The long-term goal is to build a database of sessions to use Improvised Active Music Therapy (IAMT) as a complementary, reliable, and feasible assessment tool to predict whether older adults with PD will progress to Parkinson's Disease Dementia (PDD) or Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and distinguish the motor phenotype as Tremor Dominant (PDTD), Mixed (PDM), or Postural Instability and Gait Disturbances (PIGD). The purpose of this project is to understand the effect of music therapy sessions on cognition and motor skills within the reciprocal improvised music interactions between music therapist and clients. Therefore, the specific objectives are as follows: 1. To examine how physical characteristics of different neurological conditions influence music measures (note frequency, velocity of movement, synchronization, and acquisition of rhythmic complexity). 2. To examine how music measures contribute to cognitive and motor performance. 3. To assess the contributions of individual difference factors such as diagnoses, hand dominance, musical training, music preference, participant's personal experience, and cognitive abilities to music involvement.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
50 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
50
Start Date
2024-01-15
Completion Date
2024-12-30
Last Updated
2024-05-09
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Improvised Active Music Therapy
During the music improvisation process, the accredited music therapist will carefully listen to the participant's initial musical expression, including tempo, rhythmic structure, dynamics, and beat. The accredited music therapist will then join, reflecting or confirming aspects of the participant's musical expression using standard music therapy improvisation techniques such as mirroring, matching, dialoguing, and containing on their electronic instrument. By comparing the participant's and therapist's musical responses over the sessions, it will be possible to identify note frequency, velocity of movement, synchronization, and acquisition of rhythmic complexity.
Locations (1)
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada