Common Treatment Outcomes

Rehabilitating, developing, and maintaining gait through rhythmic auditory stimulation.
Providing musical cues for movements which reflect functional movements of activities of daily living.
Utilizing musical instruments to regain functional patterns of movement.
Addressing the improvement of articulatory control, respiratory strength, and function of the speech apparatus through sound vocalization and wind instrument playing.
Controlling speech rate to improve fluency, articulatory rate, pause time, and intelligibility through rhythmic patterns.

Multiple Sclerosis

Neurologic Music Therapy is a research-based treatment system that uses music and rhythm to change the way the brain functions. While every individual with Multiple Sclerosis is unique and treatment is individualized, there are some common techniques, such as:

Our Approach

Where: We come to you. We provide individual or group sessions at homes, facilities, or hospitals. We can include family or caregivers in the session upon request.

Cost: Neurologic music therapy is covered by insurance.

How it Works

We provide clinical assessment. Assessment is a critical element in evidence-based therapy. It allows the neurologic music therapist to select the proper technique for treatment and monitor the patient’s progress.
Develop therapeutic goals/objectives. Appropriate and measurable goals and objectives are created based on the results of clinical assessment.
Design of functional, non-musical therapeutic exercise structures and stimuli.
Translation of Step 3 into functional therapeutic music exercises. Here, functional exercises are translated into musical elements. For example:
- Exercises to improve the range of motion and limb coordination are translated into structures of therapeutic instrument-playing exercises.
- Memory training may be facilitated by music-based mnemonic devices (e.g. songs, chants, rhymes).
- Functional reach- ing and grasping exercises are regulated by cues in rhythmically structured beat sequences or strongly accentuated rhythms in music.
- Gait-training exercises are facilitated by rhyth- mic entrainment and audio-spinal stimulation.
Outcome reassessment. The neurologic music therapist uses the same clinical assessment tools from Step 1 to compare and benchmark the effectiveness of treatment. This may occur after each session, intermittently during the treatment process, or only at the end of treatment and at follow-ups. This depends on the clinical setting, patient needs, and the assessment tool.
Transfer of therapeutic learning to functional applications for “activities of daily living” (ADL). One of the main underlying principles in therapeutic training to recover functions or learn new functions is based on neuroplasticity—that is, the ability of the brain to reorganize or “rewire” itself to build new neural connections. However, brain plasticity is experience driven, following the “use it or lose it” principle. Effective transfer preparation of the patient may also involve the preparation of materials such as electronic audio devices, learning materials, music instruments, and so on.

Therapeutic Process

Cognitive treatment areas include attention, arousal, auditory perception, spatial neglect, executive functioning, and memory. Within these interventions, music provides stimulation and structure to the brain, introduces timing, grouping, and synchronization for better organization, and recruits parallel brain systems.
Speech and language treatment areas include expressive aphasia, fluency, prosody, apraxia, vocalization, coordination, volume, breath and oral motor control, respiratory strength, dysarthria, articulation, intelligibility, and comprehension. Speech and singing share neural systems, which means that we can use music and singing to positively impact many speech and language goal areas.
Speech and language treatment areas include expressive aphasia, fluency, prosody, apraxia, vocalization, coordination, volume, breath and oral motor control, respiratory strength, dysarthria, articulation, intelligibility, and comprehension. Speech and singing share neural systems, which means that we can use music and singing to positively impact many speech and language goal areas.

Common Treatment Goals by Area of Need

Exercises to improve the range of motion and limb coordination are translated into structures of therapeutic instrument-playing exercises.
Memory training may be facilitated by music-based mnemonic devices (e.g. songs, chants, rhymes).
Functional reach- ing and grasping exercises are regulated by cues in rhythmically structured beat sequences or strongly accentuated rhythms in music.
Gait-training exercises are facilitated by rhyth- mic entrainment and audio-spinal stimulation.

1. We provide clinical assessment. Assessment is a critical element in evidence-based therapy. It allows the neurologic music therapist to select the proper technique for treatment and monitor the patient’s progress.

Develop therapeutic goals/objectives. Appropriate and measurable goals and objectives are created based on the results of clinical assessment.

Design of functional, non-musical therapeutic exercise structures and stimuli.

Translation of Step 3 into functional therapeutic music exercises. Here, functional exercises are translated into musical elements. For example:

Therapeutic Process

Outcome reassessment. The neurologic music therapist uses the same clinical assessment tools from Step 1 to compare and benchmark the effectiveness of treatment. This may occur after each session, intermittently during the treatment process, or only at the end of treatment and at follow-ups. This depends on the clinical setting, patient needs, and the assessment tool.

Transfer of therapeutic learning to functional applications for “activities of daily living” (ADL). One of the main underlying principles in therapeutic training to recover functions or learn new functions is based on neuroplasticity—that is, the ability of the brain to reorganize or “rewire” itself to build new neural connections. However, brain plasticity is experience driven, following the “use it or lose it” principle. Effective transfer preparation of the patient may also involve the preparation of materials such as electronic audio devices, learning materials, music instruments, and so on.

Cognitive treatment areas include attention, arousal, auditory perception, spatial neglect, executive functioning, and memory. Within these interventions, music provides stimulation and structure to the brain, introduces timing, grouping, and synchronization for better organization, and recruits parallel brain systems.

Speech and language treatment areas include expressive aphasia, fluency, prosody, apraxia, vocalization, coordination, volume, breath and oral motor control, respiratory strength, dysarthria, articulation, intelligibility, and comprehension. Speech and singing share neural systems, which means that we can use music and singing to positively impact many speech and language goal areas.

Motor treatment areas include rehabilitation of gait as well as fine and gross motor movements including strength, endurance, balance, range of motion, coordination, and dexterity. By using auditory rhythm to facilitate entrainment, we see an improvement in motor control. We use the therapeutic application and spatial placement of musical instruments to accomplish these goals.

Common Treatment Goals by Area of Need

INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS

GROUP SESSIONS

We provide clinical assessment. Assessment is a critical element in evidence-based therapy. It allows the neurologic music therapist to select the proper technique for treatment and monitor the patient’s progress.

Develop therapeutic goals/objectives. Appropriate and measurable goals and objectives are created based on the results of clinical assessment.

Design of functional, non-musical therapeutic exercise structures and stimuli.

Translation of Step 3 into functional therapeutic music exercises. Here, functional exercises are translated into musical elements. For example:

Exercises to improve the range of motion and limb coordination are translated into structures of therapeutic instrument-playing exercises.

Memory training may be facilitated by music-based mnemonic devices (e.g. songs, chants, rhymes).

Functional reaching and grasping exercises are regulated by cues in rhythmically structured beat sequences or strongly accentuated rhythms in music.

Gait-training exercises are facilitated by rhythmic entrainment and audio-spinal stimulation.

Outcome reassessment. The neurologic music therapist uses the same clinical assessment tools from Step 1 to compare and benchmark the effectiveness of treatment. This may occur after each session, intermittently during the treatment process, or only at the end of treatment and at follow-ups. This depends on the clinical setting, patient needs, and the assessment tool.

Transfer of therapeutic learning to functional applications for “activities of daily living” (ADL). One of the main underlying principles in therapeutic training to recover functions or learn new functions is based on neuroplasticity—that is, the ability of the brain to reorganize or “rewire” itself to build new neural connections. However, brain plasticity is experience driven, following the “use it or lose it” principle. Effective transfer preparation of the patient may also involve the preparation of materials such as electronic audio devices, learning materials, music instruments, and so on.
Cognitive treatment areas include attention, arousal, auditory perception, spatial neglect, executive functioning, and memory. Within these interventions, music provides stimulation and structure to the brain, introduces timing, grouping, and synchronization for better organization, and recruits parallel brain systems.

Speech and language treatment areas include expressive aphasia, fluency, prosody, apraxia, vocalization, coordination, volume, breath and oral motor control, respiratory strength, dysarthria, articulation, intelligibility, and comprehension. Speech and singing share neural systems, which means that we can use music and singing to positively impact many speech and language goal areas.

Motor treatment areas include rehabilitation of gait as well as fine and gross motor movements including strength, endurance, balance, range of motion, coordination, and dexterity. By using auditory rhythm to facilitate entrainment, we see an improvement in motor control. We use the therapeutic application and spatial placement of musical instruments to accomplish these goals.