Neurologic Music Therapy in Cognitive Rehabilitation

Abstract

NEUROLOGIC MUSIC THERAPY LAST CAME INTO research and clinical focus via cognitive rehabilitation. New imaging techniques studying higher cognitive functions in the human brain 'in vivo' and theoretical advancements in music and brain function have facilitated this development. There are shared cognitive and perceptual mechanisms and shared neural systems between musical cognition and parallel nonmusical cognitive functions that provide access for music to affect general nonmusical functions, such as memory, attention, and executive function. The emerging clinical literature shows substantial support for these effects in rehabilitative retraining of the injured brain. Key findings relevant for clinical applications of neurologic music therapy to cognitive rehabilitation are presented and discussed below.