RECRUITING

Music Listening for Mental Health Recovery After Stroke

Description

This study aims to explore whether listening to music intentionally can support the mental health of people recovering from a stroke. The question the investigators aim to answer is: Can intentional music listening improve emotional well-being in stroke survivors? And if so, what kinds of changes might music listening induce in mental health, thinking and memory (cognition), and brain activity? Participants will be randomly assigned to listen to either music or an audiobook for one hour each day, at home, for four weeks. Participants will also attend four in-person sessions with the researchers: at the start of the study (baseline), just before the listening period begins, after the four weeks are complete, and at a follow-up. During these visits, researchers will gather information about participants' mood and mental health (via questionnaires), assess memory and attention (via cognitive tasks), and use MRI scans to look at brain activity.

Conditions

Stroke
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Related Conditions:

Stroke

Study Overview

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Study Details

Study overview

This study aims to explore whether listening to music intentionally can support the mental health of people recovering from a stroke. The question the investigators aim to answer is: Can intentional music listening improve emotional well-being in stroke survivors? And if so, what kinds of changes might music listening induce in mental health, thinking and memory (cognition), and brain activity? Participants will be randomly assigned to listen to either music or an audiobook for one hour each day, at home, for four weeks. Participants will also attend four in-person sessions with the researchers: at the start of the study (baseline), just before the listening period begins, after the four weeks are complete, and at a follow-up. During these visits, researchers will gather information about participants' mood and mental health (via questionnaires), assess memory and attention (via cognitive tasks), and use MRI scans to look at brain activity.

Feasibility of a Music Listening Intervention for Mental Health Recovery in Chronic Stroke

Music Listening for Mental Health Recovery After Stroke

Condition
Stroke
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

New York

New York University, New York, New York, United States, 10003

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.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Participants aged 50 to 90
  • * Confirmed diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke occurring at least six months prior to enrollment.
  • * Significant hearing loss, defined by a score \>26 on the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening (HHIE-S; Ventry and Weinstein, 1982)
  • * Contraindications for MRI
  • * Significant cognitive impairment, defined as a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nasreddine et al., 2005) score below 22 (unless the lower score is attributable to expressive aphasia)
  • * Specific musical anhedonia, defined as a score below 60 on the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ; Mas-Herrero et al., 2013)
  • * Amusia, defined as a score below 70% on the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA; Peretz et al., 2003).
  • * Participants will not be excluded if currently taking medications that may affect brain function (e.g., antidepressants) or if engaged in other complementary therapies (e.g., mindfulness, yoga). However, participants will be instructed not to initiate any new medications or therapies during the study period. Participants who begin a new treatment during the study will be excluded from the analysis.

Ages Eligible for Study

50 Years to 90 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Collaborators and Investigators

New York University,

Pablo Ripolles, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, New York University

Study Record Dates

2026-09-30