Train the Brain With Music: Brain Plasticity and Cognitive Benefits Induced by Musical Practice in Elderly People (TBM)

Train the Brain With Music: Brain Plasticity and Cognitive Benefits Induced by Musical Practice in Elderly People in Germany and Switzerland

This longitudinal study aims to countervail age-related cognitive and cerebral decline in healthy retired people through intensive piano / keyboard music practice in Switzerland and Germany.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Age-related Cognitive Decline
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: musical practice; Behavioral: music education

Detailed Description

Recent data suggest that music making might prevent cognitive decline in the elderly. However, experimental evidence remains sparse and no information on the neurophysiological basis has been provided, although cognitive decline is a major impediment to healthy aging. This study combines for the first time protocolled music practice in elderly with cutting-edge neuroimaging. The investigators propose a multi-site Hannover-Geneva longitudinal randomized intervention study in altogether 100 retired healthy elderly (64-76) years, 70 Geneva, 100 Hannover), offering either piano instruction or instruction on musical culture for one year. Participants will be tested at 3 time points on cognitive, perceptual and motor abilities as well as via wide-ranging functional and structural neuroimaging data (Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MRI). The research team expects positive transfer effects from intensive piano training not only on subjective well-being, but also on executive functions, working memory, hearing in noise and relationships of these behavioral features with morphological and functional brain plasticity. This study may therefore for the first time be demonstrate, that music making can provoke important societal impacts by diminishing cognitive and perceptual-motor decline underpinned by functional and structural brain plasticity.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 150
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • Geneva, Switzerland, 1206
    • School of Health Sciences Geneva; HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 64 years to 76 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy right-handed volunteers, between 64 and 76 years of age, native French speakers. No regular musical practice over the lifespan. Only retired individuals may participate.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Impaired/not-corrected auditory or visual accuracy, neurological diseases in the present or the past, cardiovascular diseases, excessive hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, beginning dementia, mild cognitive impairment, clinical depression.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: musical practice; Intensive weekly musical keyboard training over 12 months	Behavioral: musical practice; Intensive weekly musical keyboard training over 12 months
Active Comparator: music education; Recreative weekly musical courses without practice over 12 months	Behavioral: music education; Recreative weekly musical courses without practice over 12 months

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Continuous Echo-Planar Imaging (EPI)	Resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), informs on functional connectivity	18 months (4 measurements over time)
Magnetization-Prepared 2 Rapid Acquisition Gradient Echo (MP2RAGE)	Magnetic Resonance Imaging measure, allows to image gray matter	18 months (4 measurements over time)
functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)	Functional Imaging of a tonal Working Memory task, allows to study involved networks	18 months (4 measurements over time)
Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging (MR-DTI)	Diffusion weighted echo-planar gradient echo sequence, allows to image white matter and structural connectivity	18 months (4 measurements over time)
Magnetic Resonance Arterial Spin Labeling (MR-ASL)	Blood perfusion assessment	18 months (4 measurements over time)
Behavioral Battery (cognitive function)	Comprehensive cognitive testing, full battery will be provided on request; involves Basic cognition, Executive Function, Fluid Intelligence, Verbal Memory	18 months (4 measurements over time)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Behavioral Battery (sensorimotor function)	Sensorimotor testing, full battery will be provided on request; involves manual dexterity and hearing tests	18 months (4 measurements over time)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: School of Health Sciences Geneva
• Collaborators: German Research Foundation; Swiss National Science Foundation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Eckart Altenmüller, PhD, Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• James CE, Altenmuller E, Kliegel M, Kruger THC, Van De Ville D, Worschech F, Abdili L, Scholz DS, Junemann K, Hering A, Grouiller F, Sinke C, Marie D. Train the brain with music (TBM): brain plasticity and cognitive benefits induced by musical training in elderly people in Germany and Switzerland, a study protocol for an RCT comparing musical instrumental practice to sensitization to music. BMC Geriatr. 2020 Oct 21;20(1):418. doi: 10.1186/s12877-020-01761-y.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 31, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 6, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 14, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): September 18, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 11, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 10, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: mental health; well-being; psychometrics; executive function; sensorimotor function; countervail age-related cognitive and cerebral decline; healthy elderly; musical training; neuroimagery and brain plasticity
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 81185

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Raw (NIfTI format for MRI data) and preprocessed data will be made available to the scientific community, via an open source scientific data base.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: December 2022
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Scientific community only
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

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