The Effects of Playing Live Music in Music Therapy/Occupational Therapy Co-treatment on Unilateral Spatial Neglect

Investigators hypothesize, based on anecdotal evidence to date, that active music making interventions conducted on a patient's neglected side will result in improved attention to that side and that this will be measurable within session.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Unilateral Spatial Neglect (USN)
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Music Therapy

Detailed Description

An open, single group of ten patients selected will receive a 30 minute music therapy/occupational therapy co-treatment intervention. Music interventions will be performed by a licensed, Board-Certified Music Therapist while a licensed Occupational Therapist will provide support, assistance, and measurements of behavioral attention/inattention. At the outset of the first session patients will be briefly, informally interviewed to ascertain their musical preferences, which will then be integrated into the music therapist's interventions whenever possible to maximize engagement and therapeutic rapport. Live music will be provided on the patient's neglected side and patients will be encouraged to play music interactively with a focus towards that side whenever possible. An outcome measurement tool (Star Cancellation Test) will be focused on measuring hemispheric neglect and administered at the beginning and end of each session to measure within session changes.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • New York University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients experiencing unilateral left spatial neglect post brain injury (stroke, TBI, N-TBI).
• Patients able to follow two step commands and maintain attention to task for five minutes in a quiet environment.
• The KF-NAP, which is administered to all patients with suspected neglect on admission, will be used as a screening tool for the neglect syndrome. Inclusion criteria will be participants with score of ≤ 5.
• Patients must be able to hold a pencil to complete the SCT
• Patients must be able to discriminate between distractor items (words versus big and small stars) and see items in picture cards
• Patients communicate willingness to participate in music therapy interventions.
• Admission to acute inpatient rehabilitation unit at NYU/HJD.
• Patient will have the ability to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Visual impairment.
• Right side or dominant hand impairment.
• Any social or medical problem that precludes completion of the protocol.
• Patients who have sensory neglect or motor neglect , as the SCT cannot be used with this population
• Severe language comprehension impairment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Music interventions; Live music will be provided on the patient's neglected side and patients will be encouraged to play music interactively with a focus towards that side whenever possible	Behavioral: Music Therapy; The majority of each study session will be spent engaging in music therapy: playing live music with a music therapist with the help of an occupational therapist. At the beginning and end of each session subjects will complete 2 assessments.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Star Cancellation Test and Picture Scanning Test (from the Behavioral Inattention Test (BIT)	54 targets dispersed amongst 75 distractors. Patients are asked to cross out all of the small stars within the field, placed at midline, using a pen.	1 Day
Picture Scanning Test (PST)	3 large color photos that depict: (1) a meal on a dish, (2) a wash basin and toiletries, (3) a large window flanked by sundry objects. Participant is asked to name and point to the main items see in the picture.	1 Day

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Brian Im, MD, New York University Medical School

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 19, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 19, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 28, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): September 29, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 19, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 17, 2020
• Last Verified: August 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: brain injury; Music therapy; sensorimotor cortex
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Perceptual Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16-00189

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No