Musical Engagement of Brain LObes in Alzheimer's Disease Patients StudY (MELODY)

August 18, 2025 updated by: Medical University of South Carolina
This is a randomized, cross-over study to measure global and clinical impact and level of arousal in subjects suffering from moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease when exposed to emotionally impactful music compared to control intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

In partnership with the study partner (a person who spends 10 hours or more a week with the subject and can reliably report on the subject's condition), three tunes will be chosen for the purposes of the study. The tunes chosen will need to be related to a past meaningful, positive experience of the subject, as determined by the subject and the subject's study partner. The pieces will be restricted in duration to between 1.5 and 2 minutes each. A piece will be chosen at random and will be saved on a portable device, and subjects will be asked to listen to the melody using high quality, over-ear headphones. The total exposure time will be 10 minutes each hour over a three-hour period. The melody will be repeated as many times as necessary to complete the 10-minute period. The control intervention will involve listening to nature sounds at the same duration and administration scheme. Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be used to identify how brain networks are modulated via exposure to this music and how they associate with the clinical findings.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
10

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Arianne Fritts, BS, MS
  • Phone Number: 843-670-1414
  • Email: kindya@musc.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
        • Medical University of South Carolina

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

55 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
  • Person of any sex/gender aged between 55 and 90
  • Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study
  • In the opinion of the investigator, has an informant able and willing to provide accurate information about the participant (may be paid or unpaid caregiver)
  • Suffer from moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease as established by the study team using the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (NINCDS-ADRDA) Alzheimer's Criteria for possible and probable Alzheimer's Disease
  • Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or other type of dementia as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V)
  • Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 5-20
  • Subject is reported by the study partner to be able to listen to a minimum of 10 minutes of music and a sound in an uninterrupted manner.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Suffer from severe hearing impairment as reported by the informant
  • Presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia as determined by clinical observation by the Principal Investigator, including history of agitation and/or combative behavior.
  • Individuals who score ≥ 12 seconds on the Timed Up and Go (TUG) Test.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Preferred Music - Visit 1, Nature Sounds - Visit 2
Behavioral: Preferred Music
Participants will listen to selected music using over-ear headphones delivered as 10-minute segments at the top of each hour over the course of 3 hours
Behavioral: Nature Sounds
Participants will listen to nature sounds using over-ear headphones delivered as 10-minute segments at the top of each hour over the course of 3 hours
Placebo Comparator: Nature Sounds - Visit 1, Preferred Music - Visit 2
Behavioral: Preferred Music
Participants will listen to selected music using over-ear headphones delivered as 10-minute segments at the top of each hour over the course of 3 hours
Behavioral: Nature Sounds
Participants will listen to nature sounds using over-ear headphones delivered as 10-minute segments at the top of each hour over the course of 3 hours

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changes in Intervention Response as Evaluated by the Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGIC)
Time Frame: Visit 1 (Day 14 +/- 3 days), Visit 2 (Day 21 +/- 3 days)
This is a 7-item score ranging from "markedly worse" to "markedly improved". It is assessed by the study clinician who interviews both participant and makes an informed judgment how to incorporate their input.
Visit 1 (Day 14 +/- 3 days), Visit 2 (Day 21 +/- 3 days)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Level of Arousal as Evaluated by the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS)
Time Frame: Visit 1 (Day 14 +/- 3 days), Visit 2 (Day 21 +/- 3 days)
Participants will provide a self-assessed scoring of their level of arousal on a scale of 1-7 ranging from "Feeling active, vital, alert, or wide awake" to "No longer fighting sleep, sleep onset soon; having dream-like thoughts".
Visit 1 (Day 14 +/- 3 days), Visit 2 (Day 21 +/- 3 days)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Medical University of South Carolina

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Endowment for the Arts, United States
American Association of Retired Persons

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Jacobo Mintzer, MD, MBA, Medical University of South Carolina

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 11, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 15, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 15, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
March 25, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 25, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 4, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 9, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 18, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 00115303

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

This study will be part of the Alzheimer's Clinical Trials Consortium (ACTC). The study abides by the principles for sharing of research data as described in the NIH Public Access Policy on data sharing. The researchers endorse the sharing of final de-identified research data to serve important scientific goals. This project will facilitate sharing of software, archived study datasets (including images), assessment instruments, forms, and procedures through the web-based tools of the ACTC. The ACTC web portal will include access to inventories of resources and request procedures. All ACTC archival datasets will be included on the Global Alzheimer's Association Interactive Network (GAAIN); ACTC data can be accessed via the GAAIN platform; full or partial archived datasets can be shared via the dedicated ACTC Dataset- Sharing Portal.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

It will become available one year after study recruitment it completed.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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