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Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) positively impacts the speech function of patients suffering from aphasia and strokes. Fixed-pitch melodies and phrases formulated in MIT provide the key to the target language to open the language pathway. This randomized controlled trial compared the effects of music therapy-based MIT and speech therapy on patients with non-fluent aphasia. The former is more effective in the recovery of language function in patients with aphasia. Forty-two participants were enrolled in the study, and 40 patients were registered. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups: the intervention group (n = 20; 16 males, 4 females; 52.90 ± 9.08 years), which received MIT, and the control group (n = 20; 15 males, 5 females; 54.05 ± 10.81 years), which received speech therapy. The intervention group received MIT treatment for 30 min/day, five times a week for 8 weeks, and the control group received identical sessions of speech therapy for 30 min/day, five times a week for 8 weeks. Each participant of the group was assessed by a Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE) at the baseline (t1, before the start of the experiment), and after 8 weeks (t2, the experiment was finished). The Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) were also measured on the time points. The best medical care of the two groups is the same. Two-way ANOVA analysis of variance was used only for data detection. In the spontaneous speech (information), the listening comprehension (right or wrong, word recognition, and sequential order) and repetitions of the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group in terms of the cumulative effect of time and the difference between groups after 8 weeks. The intervention group has a significant time effect in fluency, but the results after 8 weeks were not significantly different from those in the control group. In terms of naming, the intervention group was much better than the control group in spontaneous naming. Regarding object naming, reaction naming, and sentence completing, the intervention group showed a strong time accumulation effect. Still, the results after 8 weeks were not significantly different from those in the control group. These results indicate that, compared with speech therapy, MIT based on music therapy is a more effective musical activity and is effective and valuable for the recovery of speech function in patients with non-fluent aphasia. As a more professional non-traumatic treatment method, MIT conducted by qualified music therapists requires deeper cooperation between doctors and music therapists to improve rehabilitating patients with aphasia. The Ethics Committee of the China Rehabilitation Research Center approved this study (Approval No. 2020-013-1 on April 1, 2020) and was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration number: Clinical Trials ChiCTR2000037871) on September 3, 2020.

Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) is a melodic musical training method that could be combined with language rehabilitation. However, some of the existing literature focuses on theoretical mechanism research, while others only focus on clinical behavioral evidence. Few clinical experimental studies can combine the two for behavioral and mechanism analysis. This review aimed at systematizing recent results from studies that have delved explicitly into the MIT effect on non-fluent aphasia by their study design properties, summarizing the findings, and identifying knowledge gaps for future work. MIT clinical trials and case studies were retrieved and teased out the results to explore the validity and relevance of these results. These studies focused on MIT intervention for patients with non-fluent aphasia in stroke recovery period. After retrieving 128 MIT-related articles, 39 valid RCT studies and case reports were provided for analysis. Our summary shows that behavioral measurements at MIT are excessive and provide insufficient evidence of MRI imaging structure. This proves that MIT still needs many MRI studies to determine its clinical evidence and intervention targets. The strengthening of large-scale clinical evidence of imaging observations will result in the clear neural circuit prompts and prediction models proposed for the MIT treatment and its prognosis.

IntroductionMusic therapy has been employed as an alternative treatment modality for the arousal therapy of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) in clinical settings. However, due to the absence of continuous quantitative measurements and the lack of a non-musical sound control group in most studies, the identification of the specific impact of music on DOC patients remains challenging. In this study, 20 patients diagnosed with minimally consciousness state (MCS) were selected, and a total of 15 patients completed the experiment.MethodsAll patients were randomly assigned to three groups: an intervention group (music therapy group, n = 5), a control group (familial auditory stimulation group, n = 5), and a standard care group (no sound stimulation group, n = 5). All three groups received 30 min of therapy five times a week for a total of 4 weeks (20 times per group, 60 times in total). Autonomic nervous system (ANS) measurements, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), and functional magnetic resonance—diffusion tensor imaging (fMRI-DTI) were used to measure the peripheral nervous system indicators and brain networks, and to evaluate patients’ behavior levels.ResultsThe results reveal that PNN50 (p = 0.0004**), TP (p = 0.0003**), VLF (p = 0.0428**), and LF/HF (p = 0.0001**) in the music group were significantly improved compared with the other two groups. Such findings suggest that the ANS of patients with MCS exhibits higher activity levels during music exposure compared to those exposed to family conversation or no auditory stimulation. In fMRI-DTI detection, due to the relative activity of ANS in the music group, the ascending reticular activation system (ARAS) in the brain network also exhibited significant nerve fiber bundle reconstruction, superior temporal gyrus (STG), transverse temporal gyrus (TTG), inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), limbic system, corpus callosum, subcorticospinal trace, thalamus and brainstem regions. In the music group, the reconstructed network topology was directed rostrally to the diencephalon’s dorsal nucleus, with the brainstem’s medial region serving as the hub. This network was found to be linked with the caudal corticospinal tract and the ascending lateral branch of the sensory nerve within the medulla.ConclusionMusic therapy, as an emerging treatment for DOC, appears to be integral to the awakening of the peripheral nervous system-central nervous system based on the hypothalamic-brainstem-autonomic nervous system (HBA) axis, and is worthy of clinical promotion. The research was supported by the Beijing Science and Technology Project Foundation of China, No. Z181100001718066, and the National Key R&D Program of China No. 2022YFC3600300, No. 2022YFC3600305.

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[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effects of therapeutic keyboard music playing on the finger function of subjects’ hands through measurements of the joint position error test, surface electromyography, probe reaction time, and writing time. [Subjects and Methods] Ten subjects were divided randomly into experimental and control groups. The experimental group used therapeutic keyboard music playing and the control group used grip training. All subjects were assessed and evaluated by the joint position error test, surface electromyography, probe reaction time, and writing time. [Results] After accomplishing therapeutic keyboard music playing and grip training, surface electromyography of the two groups showed no significant change, but joint position error test, probe reaction time, and writing time obviously improved. [Conclusion] These results suggest that therapeutic keyboard music playing is an effective and novel treatment for improving joint position error test scores, probe reaction time, and writing time, and it should be promoted widely in clinics.

[Purpose] This study examined the immediate effects of keyboard-based music therapy on Probe Reaction Time. [Subjects and Methods] Probe Reaction Time was determined in 10 subjects by self-evaluation before and after music therapy intervention. The Probe Reaction Time was separately measured 4 times. [Results] After completion of music therapy intervention, the Probe Reaction Time in the 10 subjects was significantly decreased. [Conclusion] The results suggest that keyboard-based music therapy is an effective and novel treatment, and should be applied in clinical practice.