Archive for February, 2010
February 28th, 2010 6:02:51
Novel challenges to gait in Parkinson’s disease: the effect of concurrent music in single- and dual-task contexts.
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Novel challenges to gait in Parkinson’s disease: the effect of concurrent music in single- and dual-task contexts.
Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2009 Sep;90(9):1578-83
Authors: Brown LA, de Bruin N, Doan JB, Suchowersky O, Hu B
Brown LA, de Bruin N, Doan JB, Suchowersky O, Hu B. Novel challenges to gait in Parkinson’s disease: the effect of concurrent music in single- and dual-task contexts. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of concurrent music on parkinsonian gait in single- and dual-task contexts. DESIGN: A counterbalanced repeated-measure design. SETTING: A university balance research laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: People with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) (n=10) (67+/-7y) and healthy age-matched (65+/-6y) control subjects (n=10). INTERVENTION: Subjects walked at a self-selected pace along an unobstructed walkway in 4 differing test conditions. Test conditions were differentiated by the presence of music accompaniment (no music/music) and the presence of a secondary cognitive task (single/dual). Single- and dual-task conditions were randomized; trials were blocked by the presence of music and counterbalanced between subjects. Music was self-selected by subjects. The cognitive task consisted of serial subtractions (3’s). Subjects were not instructed to attend to the music nor were they provided with instructions regarding task prioritization. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Mean gait velocity, stride length, and the percentage of the gait cycle spent in double-limb support. RESULTS: Gait among the PD patients was adversely affected by concurrent music. In contrast, gait performance in the control subjects showed no significant difference between no music and music conditions. The added requirement of a cognitive task differentially influenced gait performance in PD patients and control subjects, with PD patients displaying a further decrease in spatiotemporal parameters of gait and control subjects displaying a marginal improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Gait impairments associated with PD are exacerbated in the presence of concurrent music, an effect that is further exaggerated by the addition of a cognitive task. These results have implications for patient safety in multitasking situations.
PMID: 19735787 [PubMed - in process]
February 26th, 2010 23:02:34
Correlation between work concentration level and background music: A pilot study.
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Correlation between work concentration level and background music: A pilot study.
Work. 2009;33(3):329-33
Authors: Shih YN, Huang RH, Chiang HS
It is a common phenomenon for office workers {to listen to music} while executing daily routines at their desks. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between work concentration level and background music. This research would first follow examples in previous researches, and then explore the influence of background music on participants’ scores on attention tests. We hope to gain a preliminary understanding of the possible influence of background music on people’s focus and concentration when doing work. Thirty-two college students were separated into three controlled groups; all were given the attention test. Group [a] listened to background music while being tested for 10 minutes; group [b] had no background music at all; and group [c] listened to the music for 10 minutes prior to the attention test. The test was conducted in a “noise free” environment. The means and error rates for each group were then calculated. The findings showed that, in comparison with “no music at all”, those who listened to music prior to testing obtained higher scores in attentiveness (most probably a supplemental effect of the music), whereas those who listened to music during attention test showed extremely high level of variation in attention test scoring. Background music does affect people’s job-site behavior. In fact, all three test conditions - no background music at all, background music before the work shift, and background music during work - have affected worker performance on different levels.
PMID: 19759431 [PubMed - in process]
February 23rd, 2010 23:02:10
Relatively preserved knowledge of music in semantic dementia.
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Relatively preserved knowledge of music in semantic dementia.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2009 Jul;80(7):808-9
Authors: Hailstone JC, Omar R, Warren JD
The brain basis for music knowledge and the effects of disease on music cognition are poorly understood. Here we present evidence for relatively preserved knowledge of music in a musically untrained patient with semantic dementia and characteristic asymmetric anterior temporal lobe atrophy. Our findings suggest that music is partly separable neuropsychologically and anatomically from other semantic domains, with implications for the clinical management of patients with brain disease.
PMID: 19531690 [PubMed - in process]
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