Open AccessEffects of Rhythmic Interventions on Cognitive Abilities in Parkinson’s Disease
Author(s) -
Anne Dorothée Roesch,
Ute Gschwandtner,
Ivana Handabaka,
Antonia Meyer,
Ethan Taub,
Peter Fuhr
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.026
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1421-9824
pISSN - 1420-8008
DOI - 10.1159/000519122
Subject(s) - parkinson's disease , psychology , cognition , rhythm , disease , dementia , psychological intervention , degenerative disease , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , medicine , central nervous system disease , psychiatry
Objective: The objective of this study is to compare 2 different rhythmic, high-intensive interventions, that is, rhythmic speech-language therapy (rSLT) versus rhythmic balance-mobility training (rBMT), against a no-therapy (NT) condition in patients with Parkinson’s disease and against healthy controls (HCs) with regard to the change in or enhancement of cognitive abilities. Methods: The 4 groups (rSLT: N = 16; rBMT: N = 10; NT: N = 18; and HC: N = 17) were matched for age, sex, and educational level and were tested in 6 cognitive domains: working memory, executive function, visuo-construction, episodic memory, attention, and word retrieval. Assessments took place at baseline, at 4 weeks (T1), and at 6 months (T2). Rhythmic interventions were provided 3 times per week for 4 weeks in total. To analyze true intervention effects between groups and across time, statistical analyses included reliable change index. Intergroup differences were assessed with multivariate assessment of variance, while differences within groups were assessed with 95% confidence intervals of mean difference. Results: The rSLT improved working memory and word retrieval ( p < 0.05), possibly a beneficial transfer effect of the training method per se. In contrast, the NT group worsened in phonemic and semantic shifting ( p < 0.01). Observed improvements in flexibility and in episodic memory in the HC may be linked to training effects of retesting. Conclusions: Rhythmic cues are resistant to neurodegeneration and have a strong motivating factor. As thus, these may facilitate high-intensive and demanding training. Although both trainings were superior to NT, the improvement of cognitive abilities depends on the specific training method. Further, therapy may be more effective when delivered by a therapist rather than by an impersonal computer program.