ABSTRACT
Given the limited efï¬cacy of pharmacological treatments, the use of musical intervention as a non-drug treatment for patients with Alzheimer's disease is strongly recommended. Musical interventions appear to improve the socio-emotional and cognitive functioning of these patients, and benefits increase when patients' motor skills are engaged. Our study evaluates the factors that may inï¬uence patients' socio-emotional and motor engagement during musical activities and measures their sensorimotor synchronisation (SMS) abilities. Participants were asked to tap in time to a metronomic or musical rhythm, in the presence of a musician who performed the task with them. The musician's presence was either physical (live condition) or virtual (video condition). Two tempos were tested: a slow tempo (inter-onset interval of 800 ms) and a fast tempo (inter-onset interval of 667 ms). The results showed that patients spontaneously produced more rhythmic movements in response to the music than to the metronome. However, the consistency and accuracy of sensorimotor synchronisation was better with the metronome than with the music and was also better when the musician was present through the video rather than in person. These effects were modulated by the tempo of the auditory sequences. These results conï¬rm the importance of the musical context and social interactions on these different performances. By simultaneously evaluating the sensorimotor synchronisation of the hands, spontaneous motor behaviours, and socio-emotional behaviours using quantitative and controlled measurements, this study validates a multimodal approach to evaluating patients' engagement in a musical task. These initial results provide promising prospects in terms of application while providing clinicians and researchers with a rigorous methodology for understanding the factors that are at the origin of the therapeutic beneï¬ts of musical activities on the behaviour and well-being of patients and their caregivers.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Considering the limited efficacy of pharmacological treatments, the use of musical interventions as non-drug treatment for patients with Alzheimer's disease are strongly recommended. Musical interventions seem to improve the socio-emotional and cognitive functioning of these patients, with benefits increasing when patients are engaged at the motor level. OBJECTIVE: Our study evaluates the factors that may influence patients' socio-emotional and motor engagement during musical activities, and measures their sensorimotor synchronization (SMS) abilities. METHODS: Each participant was asked to tap with a metronomic or a musical rhythm, in the presence of a musician who performed the task with them. The presence of the musician was real (live condition) or virtual (video condition). Two tempi were tested: a slow tempo (inter-onset interval of 800 ms) and a fast tempo (inter-onset interval of 667 ms). RESULTS: Patients spontaneously produced more rhythmic movements in response to the music than to the metronome. However, the consistency and accuracy of sensorimotor synchronization were better with the metronome than with the music, and also better in video than in live condition. These effects were modulated by the tempo of the auditory sequences. CONCLUSION: These results confirm the importance of the musical context and social interactions on these different performances. By evaluating in parallel the hand sensorimotor synchronization, spontaneous motor and socio-emotional behaviors with quantitative and controlled measurements, this study validates a multimodal approach to evaluate the patients' engagement in a musical task. These initial results open up promising application prospects while providing clinicians and researchers a rigorous methodology for understanding the factors that are at the origin of the therapeutic benefits of musical activities on the behavior and well-being of patients and their caregivers.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/rehabilitation , Cognition Disorders/rehabilitation , Gait Disorders, Neurologic/rehabilitation , Music , Nonverbal Communication , Social Environment , Acoustic Stimulation , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Humans , Male , Quality of Life , Social Interaction , Time Perception , Video RecordingABSTRACT
The expressive features of music can influence the velocity of walking. So far, studies used instructed (and intended) synchronization. But is this velocity effect still present with non-instructed (spontaneous) synchronization? To figure that out, participants were instructed to walk in their own comfort tempo on an indoor track, first in silence and then with tempo-matched music. We compared velocities of silence and music conditions. The results show that some music has an activating influence, increasing velocity and motivation, while other music has a relaxing influence, decreasing velocity and motivation. The influence of musical expression on the velocity of self-paced walking can be predicted with a regression model using only three sonic features explaining 56% of the variance. Phase-coherence between footfall and beat did not contribute to the velocity effect, due to its implied fixed pacing. The findings suggest that the velocity effect depends on vigor entrainment that influences both stride length and pacing. Our findings are relevant for preventing injuries, for gait improvement in walking rehabilitation, and for improving performance in sports activities.
