2024 Alzheimer's Association Clinical Scientist Fellowship to Promote Diversity (AACSF-D)

Quantifying Dose-Response of Music for Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of ADRD

How can music therapy programs for people living with dementia be better administered in care facilities?

Kendra Ray, Ph.D.
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
New York , NY - United States

Background

As the number of people with Alzheimer's and related dementias (ADRD) are expected to increase over the coming decades, it is important to develop novel methods of caregiving that improve quality-of-life for those living with ADRD. Many individuals with dementia experience agitation, depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms – symptoms that can affect the individuals’ quality of life. To address this issue, dementia care facilities often use music as an important therapy. Prior work has shown that music enhances well-being and can improve the relationship between caregiver and care recipient. To improve this type of care, researchers are working to clarify exactly how much music therapy – both in frequency and duration – is optimal for people living with ADRD. 

Research Plan

Dr. Kendra Ray and colleagues will devote their research grant to identifying the type and amount (or “dose”) of music therapy that care facilities should use to treat neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with dementia. For this effort, they will recruit two groups of older care facility residents with moderate dementia. The first two experiments will involve a smaller group of ten participants. First, Dr. Ray and team will test how well listening to a personalized music playlist – one developed for each of the ten individuals – can improve mood, agitation and other factors compared with listening to a standardized music playlist. Second, the researchers will use advanced statistical methods to identify precise features in the music offerings – such as tempo and roughness – that affect the participants’ neuropsychiatric symptoms, as well heart rate and other biological factors. 

Lastly, the team will examine a second group of 50 residents with moderate dementia. These participants will undergo multiple sessions of music listening at different lengths of time (15 minutes, 30 minutes or 60 minutes) over a four-week period. Dr. Kendra’s group will then measure the amount of neuropsychological and physical change experienced by the participants as a result of the therapy. They will also determine exactly how long such treatment will need to be administered before it begins to have a therapeutic effect.    

Impact

Results from this project could help establish important guidelines for how to better implement music therapy in care facilities. Such work could help enhance a cost-effective treatment for improving the lives of people with dementia and their caregivers.