title: Adjunct effect of music therapy on cognition in Alzheimer's disease in Taiwan: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Music therapy (MT) reviews have found beneficial effects on behaviors and social interaction in Alzheimer's disease (AD) but inconsistent effects on cognition. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the adjunct effect of long-term and home-based MT in AD patients under pharmacological treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mild AD cases (clinical dementia rating =0.5~1) were consecutively recruited and voluntarily separated into an MT group or control group (CG) for 6 months. Outcome assessments included Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), CASI-estimated mini-mental state examination, clinical dementia rating with sum of box scores, and neuropsychiatric inventory. The MT interventions were Mozart's Sonata (KV 448) and Pachelbel's Canon, listening with headphones for 30 minutes daily in the morning and before sleep, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-one cases (MT versus CG number =20 versus 21) were analyzed. Adjusted differences of CASI-estimated mini-mental state examination and CASI after 6 months in the MT group were slightly less decreased than the CG without statistical significance. In further analysis of cognitive domains of CASI, the adjusted difference of abstraction domain in the MT group was significantly better than the CG.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although there were no apparent additional benefits of this MT on the global cognition and daily functioning in mild AD patients, it confirms the adjunct cognition effect on the abstraction. This MT contributes to the supplementary treatment of AD.
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of and Master's Program in Neurology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: Chien-Hsun
authors: CH
authors: Li
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of and Master's Program in Neurology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: Ching-Kuan
authors: CK
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of and Master's Program in Neurology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: Yuan-Han
authors: YH
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: Mei-Chuan
authors: MC
authors: Chou
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: Chun-Hung
authors: CH
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan ; Department of and Master's Program in Neurology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: Chiou-Lian
authors: CL
authors: Lai
keywords: Mozart effect; abstraction; behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia; cross-cultural effect; non-pharmacological intervention; supplementary treatment