Music therapy in brain injury rehabilitation

This past week was Brain Injury Awareness Week and we celebrated by sharing music therapy research in brain in injury rehabilitation and stories from our clients living with brain injury. Keep reading to hear how 2 Attuned Health clients are benefiting from music therapy.

Aidan: music therapy for speech rehabilitation

After a significant brain injury, Aidan had to relearn lots of every skills. When we met Aidan one of his goals was to “sound normal”. After assessment the focus of music therapy was for him to improve diaphragmtic breathing, breath support, oro-motor muscle control and strength. In particular Aidan wanted to be able to control his vocal loudness.

Whilst we worked with Aiden for several weeks to increase the transfer of his music therapy into everyday life, we thought this before/after a single session audio was worth sharing. Special thanks to Aidan for his consent to share his story with visual, audio and his name.

The first time we hear Aidan he has just arrived at his music therapy session. He struggles to control his breath and the words come out louder than Aidan would have liked.

The second time we hear Aidan is after 45 minutes of ‘vocal intonation therapy’. Vocal intonation therapy is neurologic music therapy technique that targets speech fluency, motor planning, muscle control, pacing, breath control, loudness, intonation and phonation. What a difference it made, his voice is controlled and relaxed!

Click here to hear Aidan’s speech pre & post music therapy.

S: music therapy for physical rehabilitation and more post stroke

S is a 75 year old woman recovering from a stroke. S has a huge list of goals including cognitive & speech rehabilitation and improving her mental health. Today we are focusing on S's physical goals.

S has limited mobility in her stroke affected right hand. Since starting music therapy her range of movement and endurance have significantly improved. When we first started working together S didn’t have the strength or coordination to play the handbells. These days she is sustaining playing for 30+ seconds and the smile on her face is incredible. After playing she will often exclaim “it’s working” as she still finds it surprising that her hand moves so well when we add music.

So why music therapy?

Beat is used to prime the motor cortex, and a steady rhythm helps S's brain plan and coordinate her movement. The cyclic music patterns create predictability which our brain love! The pitch, force and temporal elements of the music are adjusted to support S time and position her movements through space and to offer achievable challenges and reduce perseveration.

Plus, by encouraging S to improvise the music, she is using her executive functioning (attention, decision making, initiation, & more). All whilst using familiar harmonic loops that boost S’s mood, increase her exercise tolerance and let her have fun on her recovery journey.

What are your post brain injury goals?

Reach out to discuss how music therapy could be an appropriate support for you.