Into the groove: Can rhythm influence Parkinson's disease?

Abstract

Previous research has noted that music can improve gait in several pathological conditions, including Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and stroke. Current research into auditory-motor interactions and the neural bases of musical rhythm perception has provided important insights for developing potential movement therapies. Specifically, neuroimaging studies show that rhythm perception activates structures within key motor networks, such as premotor and supplementary motor areas, basal ganglia and the cerebellum - many of which are compromised to varying degrees in Parkinson's disease. It thus seems likely that automatic engagement of motor areas during rhythm perception may be the connecting link between music and motor improvements in Parkinson's disease. This review seeks to describe the link, address core questions about its underlying mechanisms, and examine whether it can be utilized as a compensatory mechanism.

Effects of music and music therapy on mood in neurological patients

“…Rehabilitative approaches, such as Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) [42] refer to neuroscientific models and use primarily the potential of musical stimuli to activate perception and production areas in the human brain, providing a series of therapeutic applications to sensory, cognitive, and motor dysfunctions resulting from neurological disorders. Using directive approach based on a series of exercises, NMT may be used, for example, to improve gait and movements in post-stroke and PD patients [43][44][45][46][47] and language in persons with aphasia [48,49] . On the other hand, simple music listening interventions don't require neither a specifically trained therapist nor a direct therapeutic relationship with the patient being that beneficial effects are induced by the content of the musical stimuli and by the activity of listening itself.…”

Dance therapy for individuals with Parkinson's disease: improving quality of life

“…26,27 Because of these qualities, when used as an intervention for individuals with motor impairments, dance may contribute to improved HRQOL for individuals with PD. 28,29 Dance's effects upon HRQOL have been studied in other populations. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) of 162 adult participants who suffered from stress, demonstrated that dance/movement therapy was effective at improving short-and long-term HRQOL, as measured by the World Health Organization QOL questionnaire, compared with usual care.…”

Music, Brain, and Rehabilitation: Emerging Therapeutic Applications and Potential Neural Mechanisms

“…Auditory cueing can improve gait in PD patients (Nombela et al, 2013;Bloem et al, 2015). Benoit et al extended this finding by determining whether auditory-cued gait training with music can facilitate both motor and perceptual timing in PD patients.…”

“…During the last decade, there has been increasing interest and progress in adopting music as a therapeutic tool in neurological rehabilitation, and many novel music-based methods have been developed to improve motor, cognitive, language, emotional, and social deficits in persons suffering from a debilitating neurological illness, ranging from childhood and adolescence [e.g., autism (Geretsegger et al, 2014), dyslexia (Flaugnacco et al, 2015)] to adulthood and old age [e.g., stroke (Särkämö et al, 2008;Bradt et al, 2010;Rodríguez-Fornells et al, 2012;Altenmüller and Schlaug, 2015), Parkinson's disease (Nombela et al, 2013;Bloem et al, 2015), and dementia (Vink et al, 2011;Baird and Samson, 2015)]. Traditionally, the fields of music neuroscience and music therapy have progressed independently, providing separate lines of evidence for how music is processed in the healthy brain and how it can be used therapeutically.…”