Music Therapy Research

The Power of Music

Music is fundamental to human aesthetics, but most people are unaware that it is also a direct conduit to the human brain and can promote neural plasticity. Vast advances in the development of science-based research confirm that music serves as a powerful therapeutic regimen for an array of cognitive (i.e., attention, executive functioning), motor (gait), and speech/language behaviors.

Martha Summa-Chadwick
Research Associate
NeuroScience Innovation Foundation

Neuroscience professionals acknowledge that music gets the human brain in synchrony with external rhythm, a well-established phenomenon called neural entrainment.

Music lovers who typically attend a concert for the pure joy of listening to music begin to experience this awareness as they notice their hands or feet automatically tapping in time with an exciting rhythm. Specific exercises in the form of biomedical music protocols may help redirect neural networks in persons with a wide range of disabilities or rehabilitation challenges through rhythmic entrainment.

The NeuroScience Innovation Foundation is pleased to underwrite state-of-the-art research taking place at the Speech, Language, and Music (SLAM) lab of the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Yune Lee

is conducting an interdisciplinary research project to explore the neurobiological foundations of music-based intervention for aphasia. Indeed, a well-known therapeutic technique called Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) has been in use for decades.

While melody has long been regarded as a primary factor that drives language rehabilitation with rhythm being a complementary element, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating neural and behavioral overlaps in rhythm and language skills.

Recently, Dr. Lee has devised a novel rhythm-based intervention program, which is now implemented in an app called Speech Hero. Preliminary data show promise for this rhythm-based intervention to become a viable therapeutic option for people with aphasia. Dr. Lee’s lab will conduct a clinical trial to determine how this rhythmic approach will give rise to the brain plasticity pertaining to the recovery of language impairment using state-of-the-art neuroimaging methods. If proven effective, the rhythm-based intervention program will be disseminated to the broader community of post-stroke aphasia patients.

Current SLAM UTD Projects & Research

Slam-Lab-Binaural_Psychological-Research

Beta and Gamma Binaural Beats Enhance Auditory Sentence Comprehension

Hyun-Woong Kim, Jenna Happe, Yune Sang Lee.

Psychological Research 2023

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Video Game Therapy for Chronic Aphasia

This interdisciplinary research program aims to bridge the gap between rehabilitation and neuroscience by elucidating a hitherto unknown neural mechanism, i.e., compensatory brain plasticity leading to speech and language recovery following therapy with state-of-the-art neuroimaging and video game technology.

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NEURAL MECHANISMS OF RHYTHM-BASED LANGUAGE IMPROVEMENT

Rhythmicity is a fundamental property of temporal information, which has been proposed as a primary source of connection between music and language. This link has led to growing interest in rhythmic priming paradigm for enhancing immediate language processing as well as rhythm-based musical training for developmental language disorders. However, there remains much to be understood regarding behavioral and neural mechanisms underlying the benefit of rhythmic interventions in speech and language functions. This research aims to investigate the neural underpinnings of rhythm-induced speech and language improvement using neuroimaging methods including EEG and fMRI.

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SHARED BRAIN NETWORKS OF MUSIC AND LANGUAGE

SLAM Lab MusicccData collected from children point towards a connection between music and language. This hypothesis is bolstered by anecdotal and clinical evidence of the power of music to restore language in cases of brain dysfunction. However, many questions remain—at what level are these neural resources shared between music and language? Where and when are these resources shared? Emerging evidence suggests that music and language may rely on a common sensorimotor brain network involved in temporal processing. This project seeks insight into this question with functional MRI and transcranial alternating current stimulation experiments, using machine learning-driven and single-subject level analytical techniques.

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Genetic Mediators of Music and Language Connection

Emerging evidence indicates that the basal ganglia, in conjunction with the sensorimotor brain networks, play a crucial role in implicit language learning and processing as well as perceptual rhythm processing. Inherent grammar deficits in developmental language disorder (DLD) are often accompanied by rhythmic motor impairments, suggesting a common genetic influence on the aberrant language and sensorimotor processing. Recent studies show that artificial grammar learning and perceptual timing are influenced by polymorphisms in a gene (DRD2/ANKK1) that determines the density of dopamine receptors in the basal ganglia. Building upon the previous research, we examine our hypothesis that the connection between music and language may be mediated by genetic variations of dopaminergic genes including COMT, DRD1, and DRD2.

Using TACS to Change Language and Music Behaviors

Neurons in the brain communicate through electrochemical signals which, through targeted non-invasive methods, can be carefully manipulated with electrical and magnetic fields. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (TACS) provides researchers with a chance to measure how oscillatory cortical patterns relate to cognitive function. By passing an alternating current through a cortical region, we can change endogenous cortical oscillations and observe their impacts on human behavior.

Certain types of cortical oscillations are known to be important for music and language processing, but the exact information carried by these bands of activity is unknown. Our work with TACS will uncover how interfering with these oscillations impact specific musical and linguistic behaviors, and thus reveal the information carried by cortical oscillations.

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Neuromodulation through Auditory Stimulation

Neuromodulation is any technology that directly impacts nerve function. While traditional neuromodulation methods rely on externally-delivered electrical or magnetic agents applied to a target area, we are using auditory stimulation through binaural beats. Binaural beats are an auditory illusion perceived when two different pure-tone sine waves are presented to each ear. For example, if a 250 Hz pure-tone is presented to a participant’s right ear, while a 260 Hz pure-tone is presented to the participant’s left ear, the listener perceives an illusionary third tone of 10 Hz. Previous studies have demonstrated how binaural beats can enhance psychological status (e.g., anxiety) and cognitive abilities (e.g., attention, memory, and attention). However, its effect on music and language processing, and its underpinning neural mechanism, remain unclear. This project will investigate the neural mechanism of binaural beat-driven cognitive improvement using neuroimaging (i.e., fMRI, and EEG) and other neuromodulation methods (e.g., transcranial alternating current stimulation).

Prior listening to binaural beats facilitates syntactic processing during auditory speech tasks

Jenna Happe, Hyun-Woong Kim, & Yune S. Lee

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas; Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas

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Music Therapy

Learning Center

Currated by

Martha Summa-Chadwick
Research Associate
NeuroScience Innovation Foundation

MARTHA HAS ACHIEVED A NATIONAL REPUTATION AS EDUCATOR, PERFORMER, PRESENTER, AND ADVOCATE.

She is a huge advocate for the benefits of music in the home, the school room, the concert hall, and the therapeutic community. Music and the playing of musical instruments have incredibly positive affects on the neural network that can last a lifetime, even with only a small amount of exposure to playing or reading music as a child.