Music may hold a key to patients’ mobility

A study to determine how music might help treat Parkinson’s disease patients become more mobile has begun under the direction of Dr. Ron Tintner, a neurologist at the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston and a participant in the Institute’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine. Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder whose symptoms may include shaking, slowness of movement, stiffness or difficulty with balance.

Previous studies have shown that music therapy can have a greater effect than physical therapy on Parkinson’s patients, but Tintner’s study will explore which particular rhythms work better.

“We will start with metronome patterns and move up to ballet music, marches and popular music that is very dance-oriented and popular music that is not -- all those types,” Tintner says. “It may be that this is very listener-dependent.”

The goal of the yearlong study, funded by the Grammy Foundation, is to create a device that could be tailored to each patient’s needs.

Tintner’s study reflects a growing music therapy movement exploring whether music can alleviate some of the mental and physical symptoms of disease.

Dr. Ary L. Goldberger of Harvard Medical School has already done work showing the similarity between healthy heart rhythms and note patterns in classical music, which has led to some use of music during surgery.

-- Chris Pasles