Music-Supported Therapy
as a tool in stroke rehabilitation
With the aim of adapting the treatment for its application in the address of the person, the University of Barcelona together with the Institute of Research in Intelligence Artificial of the CSIC work to design an application for electronic tablets that allow:
Project starts
Co-Design
Pilot
Pilot with controls
Controlled study starts
People who carry out the treatment of Music Support Therapy support can improve their autonomy and participation in the community as well as their quality of life.
Researchers on basic neuroscience, neurorehabilitation, and occupational therapy and artificial intelligence work together to create an innovative tool that allows to perform the treatment of Musical Supported therapy at the person's home.
Efforts to validate this treatment based on scientific studies can be consolidated using the Music Supported Therapy as a cost-effective and easy-to-use tool in the home rehabilitation in people who have suffered stroke.
The constant interaction between researchers of different profiles can increase the participation in new projects and, in particular, promote the training of PhD students and health professionals.
Facilitate the clinical recommendation of these protocols (based on evidence) by the health, as well as the technology transfer from current protocols to products merchants for neurorehabilitation purposes
One of the main disability causes
Stroke is one of the most common neurological diseases in our environment and one of the most common main causes of mortality and disability. About 80% of people who suffer stroke have motor problems in the upper limb. These movement problems have impact directly on the person's autonomy to perform daily life activities, affecting the participation in the community and diminished his quality of life.
The motor problems recovery and the person autonomy depend on the rehabilitation, which is defined as a process aimed at allowing people with some disability reach and maintain their functional physical, sensory, intellectual, psychological and social benefits, providing them with tools to achieve independence and self-determination [1]. The rehabilitation after the stroke is a process complex and long in time. In the chronic phase of the disease different studies have been shown that the person needs to carry out activities in order to maintain their own functionality and continue improving [2]. In this sense, there is one increasing need to design and validate new therapeutic interventions that may be perform the chronic phase and be based on scientific evidence.
Listening to music, playing an instrument, singing or dancing are musical activities that are present in our daily life. The therapeutic role of these leisure activities is based on the ability to music to provoke emotions and regulate mood. In addition, these activities require precise movements and the perception and integration of auditory, visual, tactile and motor information. At the throughout history, music has been used in the treatment of different diseases. It has been shown that musical activities can:
Therapy with musical support was developed in 2007 in the laboratory of Dr. Altenmüller at Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (Hanover, Germany). This therapy aims improve upper limb mobility in people who have suffered a stroke through Do exercises with different musical instruments. The exercises are performed following a protocol of exercises that increase in difficulty and allow the individualization of the treatment taking into account the capabilities of the person. Music support therapy is based on the principles of:
Previous studies have shown that Music-Supported Therapy can improve functionality of the upper limb, promote brain plasticity changes and improve mood and quality of life of people who have suffered a stroke. In our country, since 2007, the laboratory of Dr. Rodríguez-Fornells at the University of Barcelona and assigned to IDIBELL investigates the effectiveness of Music-Supported Therapy in the stroke rehabilitation. More than a decade of research in collaboration with the Service of Neurology of the University Hospital of Bellvitge and the Service of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation of Hospitals of the 'Mar' and 'Esperanza' are included in the following investigations: