Music Therapy and Cognitive Rehabilitation: Screening of Music Cognition in Adult Patients With Right Hemisphere Stroke

Journal

Psychomusicology

Year

2015

Abstract

Music therapy (MT) can be applied to the functional recovery of patients who suffer from neurologic conditions. In this context, MT functions as part of a multidisciplinary treatment in neurologic rehabilitation. Stroke is among the most common causes of severe cognitive deficits, which have a negative impact on learning processes and rehabilitation outcomes. Consequently, everyday functioning can be severely limited. Although there is ample evidence for the effectiveness of MT in cognitive rehabilitation (Bradt, Magee, Dileo, Wheeler, & McGilloway, 2010; Gardiner & Thaut, 2014; Hedge, 2014; Moore, Peterson, O'Shea, McIntosh, & Thaut, 2008; Särkämö et al., 2008; Thaut et al., 2009; Thaut, 2010), there is a lack of specific music-based assessment tools that measure the effects of music on the cognitive functions typically affected by stroke. Responding to this need, we developed the Screening of Music and Cognition (SCM) assessment tool. In this pilot study, we used the SCM as an intake assessment of 15 adult inpatients with mild-to-severe cognitive disorders due to right hemisphere stroke; they were reassessed after 1 month of interdisciplinary treatment. This study sought to determine the clinical usefulness of music-based tasks in the assessment of cognitive functioning and to assess the SCM as a tool to evaluate the cognitive functioning of individuals with acquired brain injury. We found that the SCM is effective for gathering important information relevant to cognitive rehabilitation and contributes to an optimal treatment selection for this patient population. In addition, the SCM enables monitoring of patient's progress over time.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Cognitive Abilities; Music Therapy; Observational Measures; Rehabilitation Exercises; Stroke

Indexed Terms

Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Music psychology; Musicology; Neurology; Psychology; Rehabilitation; Screening; Traumatic brain injury

Study Type

Quasi-Experimental Study; Quantitative Methods

Document Type

Article

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