The potentialities of music in Parkinson's disease

PREFACE Not only does this thesis offers a review of recent scientific articles about Parkinson’s disease (PD) as well as the possible benefits of music, but it also presents the pilot study that was conducted in order to evaluate these potentialities of music in patients with Parkinson’s disease. The first part offers an overview of PD of the currently known risk factors, symptoms, neuropathological alterations, pathogenesis, diagnosis, various treatments and their downsides. The second part deals with the various benefits of music, how it may be used to ease symptoms of patient with Parkinson’s disease and presents a recent study evaluating the effects of combining the seven qualities of music, proposed by Thomson et al, 2015, in the same intervention (Thompson and Schlaug, 2015). Finally, the third part presents the pilot study that was conducted for the purpose of this thesis in order to evaluate the potentialities of music on the quality of life of patients with PD. Background: Neuroscientific research has clearly shown that the mere listening of music can stimulate different areas of the brain. An auditory stimulus activates the temporal lobes which is directly involved in listening, and subsequently involves the entire brain : this activation results in both psychological and physiological responses. There are many ways of experiencing on music, such as singing, playing musical instruments as well as dancing. Musical training in the most ecological setting has been associated to the improvement of the quality of life of individuals, especially from the clinical population. This pilot study evaluates Performing Arts and Parkinson’s disease and aims to investigate whether the music lessons that are proposed can benefit the quality of life of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). We believe that the combination of singing, playing and dancing to music results in positive changes on various subdomains contributing to a better quality of life of patients with PD. Methods: The Performing Arts and Parkinson’s disease offered five weeks of individual weekly music lessons with a musician. Two people with PD were included in the study (1:1). The assessment of the quality of life (PDQ-39) was conducted before starting the music lessons (T0) and after five weeks of lessons (T1). The assessment about the presence of each seven therapeutic capacities of music (The Seven Capacities of Music Questionnaire) was conducted at the end of each music lesson. One week after completing the pilot study, an Appreciation Survey was also assessed in order to receive additional feedback about the overall experience of each participant. The lessons were administered at the new Centro ArteCura (CRAMS Lecco), which puts an experimental effort to adapt typical classes of music and dance to various pathologies. The dedicated courses have been realized thanks to the Interreg City for Care ITA-CH ID 1510020. Results: After five weeks of music lessons, a common but slight improvement of the quality of life was found and more specifically on the communication and emotional well-being subdomains. In addition, the music lessons were perceived as mostly engaging, physical, social, persuasive and personal, while less emotional and synchronizing. Both feedbacks on the Appreciation Survey were very positive. Conclusion: Our preliminary findings suggest that the music lessons offered in Performing Arts and Parkinson’s Disease which combine singing, clapping/tapping and dancing on well-known songs benefit the quality of life of individuals with PD, and in particularly on the communicative and emotional well- being dimensions. Overall, this experience indicates the importance of further investigation.