Putting music to trial: Consensus on key methodological challenges investigating music-based rehabilitation

Jennifer Grau-Sánchez^{1

2}, Kevin Jamey^{3

4

5}, Evangelos Paraskevopoulos⁶, Simone Dalla Bella^{3

4

5}, Christian Gold^{7

8}, Gottfried Schlaug^{9

10}, Sylvie Belleville^{4

11}, Antoni Rodríguez-Fornells^{2

12}, Madeleine E Hackney^{13

14

15}, Teppo Särkämö¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing and Occupational Therapy of Terrassa, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Terrassa, Spain.
² Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain.
³ International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sounds Research (BRAMS), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
⁵ Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁷ NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁹ Music, Neuroimaging, and Stroke Recovery Laboratories, Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical Engineering/Institute of Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
¹¹ Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
¹² Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
¹³ Departments of Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University School of Nursing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
¹⁴ Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA Health Care System, Decatur, Georgia, USA.
¹⁵ Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Rehabilitation Education and Clinical Center, Decatur, Georgia, USA.
¹⁶ Cognitive Brain Research Unit (CBRU), Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine and Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain (MMBB), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

PMID: 36177875
PMCID: PMC10091788
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14892

Review

Putting music to trial: Consensus on key methodological challenges investigating music-based rehabilitation

Jennifer Grau-Sánchez et al. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2022 Dec.

. 2022 Dec;1518(1):12-24.

doi: 10.1111/nyas.14892. Epub 2022 Sep 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing and Occupational Therapy of Terrassa, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Terrassa, Spain.
² Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona and Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain.
³ International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sounds Research (BRAMS), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
⁵ Centre for Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, Québec, Canada.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
⁷ NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway.
⁸ Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
⁹ Music, Neuroimaging, and Stroke Recovery Laboratories, Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical Engineering/Institute of Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
¹¹ Centre de recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
¹² Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
¹³ Departments of Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University School of Nursing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
¹⁴ Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA Health Care System, Decatur, Georgia, USA.
¹⁵ Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Rehabilitation Education and Clinical Center, Decatur, Georgia, USA.
¹⁶ Cognitive Brain Research Unit (CBRU), Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine and Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain (MMBB), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

PMID: 36177875
PMCID: PMC10091788
DOI: 10.1111/nyas.14892

Abstract

Major advances in music neuroscience have fueled a growing interest in music-based neurological rehabilitation among researchers and clinicians. Musical activities are excellently suited to be adapted for clinical practice because of their multisensory nature, their demands on cognitive, language, and motor functions, and music's ability to induce emotions and regulate mood. However, the overall quality of music-based rehabilitation research remains low to moderate for most populations and outcomes. In this consensus article, expert panelists who participated in the Neuroscience and Music VII conference in June 2021 address methodological challenges relevant to music-based rehabilitation research. The article aims to provide guidance on challenges related to treatment, outcomes, research designs, and implementation in music-based rehabilitation research. The article addresses how to define music-based rehabilitation, select appropriate control interventions and outcomes, incorporate technology, and consider individual differences, among other challenges. The article highlights the value of the framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions for music-based rehabilitation research and the need for stronger methodological rigor to allow the widespread implementation of music-based rehabilitation into regular clinical practice.

Keywords: evidence-based medicine; methodology; music-based rehabilitation; neurology; patient-centered.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Putting music to trial: Consensus on key methodological challenges investigating music-based rehabilitation

Affiliations

Putting music to trial: Consensus on key methodological challenges investigating music-based rehabilitation

Authors

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Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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