Music Therapy to Promote Emotion and Cognition for Dementia

The purpose of this study is to determine if the effects of music therapy alter emotion and cognition performances of individuals with mild to moderate dementia. The music therapy intervention protocol is structured by drum improvisation, rhythm imitation, music cognition and song discussion. Attentive listening and active participation of the music training activities allow participants to utilize their focus of attention and comprehension of informational texts. Music therapy intervention is proposed to provide positive stimulations on emotion and cognitive functions of individuals with dementia. The results of the present study will clarify relationship between the effect of music therapy and the neural substrate of music therapy in anatomical and functional brain data obtained from MRI (fMRI).