Class 3

MUSIC 2MU3:
Music Therapy Research and Parkinson’s
Disease
Instructor: Annilee Baron, MTA, OCT
(She/her)
Date: January 24th, 2024
 Learning Overview
In this class you will learn:

• About the symptoms and prevalence of Parkinson’s Disease

• What the research literature tells us so far about how music therapy can help treat
Parkinson’s symptoms (motor, non-motor, and quality of life)

• About the Lee Silverman Voice Technique

• How a Group Music Therapy Voice Protocol (G-MTVP) can be used to treat Parkinson’s
symptoms

Based on the readings:

 Garcia-Casares, N., Martin-Colom, J. E., & Garcia-Arnes, J. A. (2018). Music Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease.
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 19(12), 1054-1062. https://www-sciencedirect-
com.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/science/article/pii/S1525861018305401?via%3Dihub

Swedberg Yinger, O., & Lapointe, L. L. (2012). The Effects of Participation in a Group Music Therapy Voice
Protocol (G-MTVP) on the Speech of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease. Music Therapy Perspectives, 12(1),
Parkinson’s Choir in our
Community

 https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/mcmaster-students-help-people-with-parkinsons-build-a
-community-through-choral-singing/
 What is Parkinson’s Disease?
(PD)
 A progressive
neurodegenerative disorder
characterized by several motor
AND non-motor symptoms

 Lewy bodies, substantia

nigra, basal ganglia
Quality of Life
 Mood
 Social Interactions
 Ability to communicate with family and friends
 Recreational activities
 Belonging
 Feeling supported, not alone
Motor Symptoms
Non-motor Symptoms
 Epidemiology
 Affects 1 in every 500 people in Canada
 2nd most common neurologic disorder after Alzheimer’s
 +10 million people worldwide
 UPDRS
Unified Parkinson’s
Disease Rating Scale

 Standardized
diagnostic tool
 Treatment
 Typically treated pharmacologically
 ie. Levodopa, and with Physiotherapy
 No cure
 Stimulates dopamine release
 Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
Paper #1:
Music Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease
(2018)
 Spain
 Published in
JAMDA
 Literature Review
Authors are MDs
 Purpose?
Paper #1

How did they conduct their search?

music (melodic sound),

singing, and

rhythm (with no melodic sound).

 Paper #1

Methods
- Participants’ requirements

- Studies focused on improving:

A)Motor symptoms
B) Non-motor symptoms
C) Quality of Life (QoL)
Music
therapy or
music as
therapy?
 “The Ronnie
Gardiner
Method”
 Effects of Music Therapy on Motor Symptoms

Paper #1
Most focused on motor symptoms (20/27)

- gait, motor timing

- coordination, gait, bradykinesia, rigidity, mobility
- No improvement or worse performance
Effects of Music Therapy on
Non-motor symptoms
Paper #1
 Positive results in 7 trials. 1 found no changes
 Singing interventions?
 Dysarthria, swallowing
Effects of Music Therapy on QOL
and Mood

Paper #1
 Any negative effects?
 No improvement?
 Impact of singing and rhythm
 Paper #1
Discussion

 Effects
on motor symptoms, non motor
symptoms,
and quality of life (QoL) and mood

 Active versus Passive?

 Duration of sessions
 Viability as a treatment option?
Neurologic Music Therapy & Parkinsons

entrainment:

stimulating the portion of the brain that perceives

sound and rhythm can, in turn, synchronize other
areas of the brain, including the region responsible
for movement
 Neurologic Music Therapy &
Parkinsons
 “Music is a unique tool in treating neurologic injury because it can
activate parts of the brain that have not been damaged as much as
others,”

Music therapy can help improve motor activity in patients with

Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders by attuning
them to beats and rhythms that in turn “prime” muscle movement.

- Rebekah Stewart, MA, MT-BC, a neurologic music therapist at

Rehabilitative Rhythms

 https://www.uchealth.org/today/a-new-tune-for-managing-parkinso
ns-disease-symptoms/
Neurologic Music Therapy & Parkinsons

Gait training with RAS.

Effect stays for 3-4 weeks, then begins to wear off.

Use it or lose it principle - brain plasticity

(“neuroplasticity”)

Have to figure out how to help patients CONTINUE

Community groups can help people continue practicing
(ie. Parkinson’s & Ballet)
Psychosocial
Perspective
 Parkinson’s and
music therapy
at Norton Neuroscience Institute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-5LdT9zHPM
Parkinson’s and music therapy
at Norton Neuroscience Institute

 Improves Self-Esteem
 Improves Mood
 Builds Up Vocal Strength
 Enhances Motor Movement
Paper #2

• Most research focuses on INDIVIDUAL sessions. This paper wanted to focus

on GROUP speech treatments

Purpose: To examine effects of participation in a Group Music Therapy Voice

Protocol on the intensity, fundamental frequency, and fundamental frequency
variability of individuals with PD disease
 Paper #2
Recall: Speech impairments issues for
80% of PD patients

Recall: Singing benefits

Certified music therapist

Applied research
Parkinson’s and Speech
 Soft speech
 Struggle while speaking
 Speech therapy most effective treatment for speech
impairments resulting from PD BUT less than 5% of
PD access it!
Lee Silverman Voice Treatment
(LSVT) program
Methods

 10 people
 Certified music therapists
 G-MTVP
(Group Music Therapy Voice Protocol)
 Pre-test, probe, post-test
Procedure of G-MTVP
(Group Music Therapy Voice Protocol)

 Adapted from LSVT

 What did sessions look like?
Conclusions
Conclusions

 Fundamental frequency results

 Speech abilities
 Caregivers/friends

 GMTVP is promising treatment for impaired speech in

individuals with PD, potential to improve or maintain vocal
functioning in a motivational social setting
Limitations

 Small sample size

 No control group to compare with