The Effectiveness of Piano Therapy vs. Piano Listening on Manual Dexterity in the Elderly

NCT03372031 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: SeylerCapstone2017
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Does active piano practice help recover hand dexterity in older adults, or does social interaction and music-listening alone affect motor performance? Researchers hypothesized improved dexterity after active piano playing, but not after passive piano listening. 15 residents of a retirement community were partnered together and completed 2 two-week piano training modules. In module 1, one partner played piano exercises and songs while the other listened. In module 2, partners switched roles. The Purdue Pegboard Test and Box and Block Test assessed fine and gross motor dexterity, before, between, and after the training modules. A repeated measures ANOVA showed a main effect of time on overall fine and gross motor function, but there was no main effect of playing versus listening. Results did not support the hypothesis, but indicate that piano-based therapy requires greater than 2 weeks to begin improving dexterity and may influenced co-occurring socialization.

Conditions

Aging; Manual Dexterity; Piano Therapy

Keywords

Music Supported Therapy; plasticity; multisensory integration; bimanual coupling; auditory feedback; dexterity; piano therapy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Purdue Pegboard

  Fine Motor Manual Dexterity

  10 minutes

• Box and Block Test

  Gross Motor Dexterity

  5 minutes

Study Arms (2)

Active-Passive

EXPERIMENTAL

Active Piano training (8 sessions in two weeks) followed by listening to piano training (8 sessions in 2 weeks) (Passive condition)

Behavioral: Piano training (Active); Behavioral: Piano Training (Passive)

Passive-Active

EXPERIMENTAL

Passive piano training listening (8 sessions in two weeks) followed by active piano training (8 sessions in two weeks)

Behavioral: Piano training (Active); Behavioral: Piano Training (Passive)

Interventions

Piano training (Active) BEHAVIORAL

Piano Curriculum. Participants were all trained on one of four 88-key pianos located in the assisted living facility. Piano instructors were 6 undergraduate Music Education and Music Performance majors. Each lesson of the week had a different focus: right and left hands separately, bimanually coupled, and bimanually uncoupled (Loehrer et al., 2016). Each week of the module had a different focus as well: notes played one step apart, notes played multiple steps apart (intervals), and tones played together (two-note chords) (van Vugt et al., 2016; Villeneuve et al., 2014). Each session began with skill exercises and ended with learning a simple, recognizable song. Two participants with extensive piano experience progressed to playing duets with the instructor and hymns out of a hymnal after mastery of the study curriculum. These training protocols were based on those of Schneider and colleagues' 2007 study.

Also known as: Piano Training (Passive)

Active-Passive; Passive-Active

Piano Training (Passive) BEHAVIORAL

Participants listened to their research partner complete 8 active piano training sessions across 2 weeks.

Active-Passive; Passive-Active

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 70 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Able to physically and cognitively withstand 30 minute piano training sessions

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Westminster College: lead

Study Sites (1)

Shanango on the Green

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, 16172, United States

Location

Related Publications (4)

• Ferreira PH, Ferreira ML, Maher CG, Refshauge KM, Latimer J, Adams RD. The therapeutic alliance between clinicians and patients predicts outcome in chronic low back pain. Phys Ther. 2013 Apr;93(4):470-8. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20120137. Epub 2012 Nov 8.

  PMID: 23139428 BACKGROUND

• Jones L, Karageorghis CI, Ekkekakis P. Can high-intensity exercise be more pleasant?: attentional dissociation using music and video. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2014 Oct;36(5):528-41. doi: 10.1123/jsep.2013-0251.

  PMID: 25356615 BACKGROUND

• Lovden M, Ghisletta P, Lindenberger U. Social participation attenuates decline in perceptual speed in old and very old age. Psychol Aging. 2005 Sep;20(3):423-34. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.20.3.423.

  PMID: 16248702 BACKGROUND

• Vuilleumier P, Trost W. Music and emotions: from enchantment to entrainment. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2015 Mar;1337:212-22. doi: 10.1111/nyas.12676.

  PMID: 25773637 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Exercise

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Randomized members of dyads (formed by residential treatment facility personnel) in to therapy order conditions. Two weeks piano therapy for one while the other listened followed by two week in reversed roles. Half the participants played first and listened second and the other half did the reverse.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 8, 2017
• First Posted: December 13, 2017
• Study Start: August 30, 2017
• Primary Completion: October 21, 2017
• Study Completion: December 1, 2017
• Last Updated: December 15, 2017

Record last verified: 2017-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR
• Time Frame: Immediately and for the next five years
• Access Criteria: Researchers

Locations

US (1)