Memory for Music: Individual Intensive Musical Training in Alzheimer's Disease

Summary

This project, called Memory for Music, focuses on the increasing number of people worldwide living with dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD typically starts with memory problems and eventually affects daily activities. Active music interventions, especially singing, have shown positive effects on mood, behavior, and quality of life for people with dementia, but their impact on cognition is not well understood. The project aims to address this gap by studying the effects of learning new songs on cognitive, behavioral, and brain functioning.

The study will involve home-dwelling adults aged 65 or older with AD from Argentina, Austria, and Norway. Participants will undergo 5 months of intensive musical training (twice a week) and 5 months of minimal training (once a month) in a random order, with a 2-month break in between. The interventions include learning new songs with a personal music teacher. General cognition will be measured using the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive (ADAS-cog), and memory for music will be assessed through various methods, including behavioral tasks and brain responses (EEG). Mood will also be evaluated in each session.

The goal is to include 113 participants to ensure reliable detection of meaningful effects. The study will explore how mood and memory for music contribute to changes in cognitive abilities, and whether these effects vary based on factors such as sex, age, AD stage, or previous musical training and general education. The project emphasizes collaboration between researchers, service providers, and users to ensure the study's relevance and applicability.

Conditions

• Alzheimer Disease

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Music training - intensive

Music training entails learning novel songs the participant chooses from a list. Songs are similar in complexity and length (number of words, high frequency words, harmony, musical complexity, length of verses and chorus). Offering a variety of songs allows to examine memory performance regardless of the specific song chosen. Sessions last 30 to 40 minutes, conducted based on a manual (1. mood observation; 2. warm-up; 3. teaching the chorus, observed liking of song; 4. singing entire chorus; 5. singing chorus in context, 6. session closure with favourite song; 7. final mood observation; session rating), and are video-recorded. External evaluators audit the sessions video recordings to determine adherence to the manual. Sessions are offered twice a week for 5 months.

BEHAVIORAL

Music training - minimal

Music training entails learning novel songs the participant chooses from a list. Songs are similar in complexity and length (number of words, high frequency words, harmony, musical complexity, length of verses and chorus). Offering a variety of songs allows to examine memory performance regardless of the specific song chosen. Sessions last 30 to 40 minutes, conducted based on a manual (1. mood observation; 2. warm-up; 3. teaching the chorus, observed liking of song; 4. singing entire chorus; 5. singing chorus in context, 6. session closure with favourite song; 7. final mood observation; session rating), and are video-recorded. External evaluators audit the sessions video recordings to determine adherence to the manual. Sessions are offered once a month for 5 months.

OTHER

Treatment as Usual (TAU)

Medications, behavioural interventions and other treatments that participants may receive outside the study during the period of participation.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociales, Buenos Aires, Argentina

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of Vienna

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Bergen

  collaborator OTHER

• Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios

  collaborator OTHER

• Kinn Municipality, Norway

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Oslo Municipality

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Norwegian Association for Music Therapy

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Oslo Dementia Association

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-12-01

Primary Completion

2027-10-01

Completion

2027-10-01

Countries

• Argentina
• Austria
• Norway

Study Locations