title: Musical cognition in Alzheimer's disease: application of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess certain musical abilities in 30 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 30 healthy controls by using the complete version of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA). This battery evaluates melodic (scale, contour, and interval) and temporal (rhythm and meter) perception of music and musical memory. We found that altered musical processing is a common feature in AD. Despite that, AD subjects show partially spared abilities for temporal organization of music, though not for melodic perception and musical memory. This peculiar dysfunctional pattern could depend on the neurodegenerative involvement of some specific areas for music perception and memory in the brains of AD patients. Further studies are needed to investigate the usefulness of additional musical tests like the MBEA on larger samples to confirm our preliminary data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campanelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rendace
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parisi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Antonio
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Letizia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Imbriano
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Lena
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trebbastoni
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
keywords: Alzheimer's disease (AD); Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA); amusia; musical cognition; musical memory