The effect of music therapy on memory, language and psychological symptoms of patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease

Objective To explore the effect of music therapy on memory, language, and psychological symptoms of patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Methods Ninety-three patients with mild AD from Beijing Geriatric Hospital between January 2012 and April 2014 were recruited and divided randomly into three groups: music therapy group (group A, n=32), lyrics control group (group B, n=31), and blank control group (group C, n=30). Patients in group A sung familiar lyrics, while patients in group B read the same lyrics without music, supervised by music therapist for 30 minutes every day over a period of three months. All participants were followed up for another three months. Patients in group C received no special intervention except routine treatment. All participants completed scheduled neuropsychological tests on baseline (t0), three months later (t1), and six months later (t2). Results The World Health Organization-University of California Los Angeles Auditory Verbal Learning Test (WHO-UCLA AVLT) scores of immediate recall at t1 (7.38±1.45) and t2 (7.24±1.42) were both higher than that at t0 (6.81±1.40) in group A (t=3.79, t=3.62, P<0.05). WHO-UCLA AVLT score of delayed recall at t1 was higher than that at t0 in group A (6.51±1.52 vs 5.88±1.34, t=4.06，P<0.05). In verbal fluency test, group A (8.63±1.94) and group B (8.58±1.75) scored higher than group C (7.54±2.03) at t1 (t=5.57,t=2.48,P<0.05); Group A (8.45±1.69) scored higher than group B (7.89±1.74) and group C (7.43±1.52) at t2 (t=2.37,t=4.55,P<0.05); Group A scored higher at t1 (8.63±1.94) and t2 (8.45±1.69), compared with that at t0 (7.62±1.70, t=3.92, t=3.65, P<0.05); Group B scored higher at t1 compared with that at t0 (8.58±1.75 vs 7.68±1.76, t=3.31，P<0.05). Group A scored lower at t1 (13.52±11.63) and t2 (13.01±11.72), compared with that at t0 (16.37±11.72) in neuropsychiatric inventory score (t=33.07, t=29.65, P<0.05). Group A scored lower at t1 (16.43±11.90) and t2 (15.02±10.56), compared with that at t0 (21.72±12.88) in Caregiver Distress Scale (t=32.44, t=31.68, P<0.05). Conclusions Music therapy significantly enhances memory and language ability of patients with mild AD. It relieves the psychological symptoms and reduces caregiver distress. Training of singing lyrics is superior to reading lyrics. Key words: Alzheimer disease; Music therapy; Memory; Language; Neurobehavioral manifestations