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NIH Music-Based Intervention Toolkit: Music-Based Interventions for Brain Disorders of Aging
Emmeline Edwards1, Coryse St Hillaire-Clarke2, David W Frankowski2
1From the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (E.E., W.G.C., N.W.), National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Aging (C.S.H.-C., D.W.F., L.O.), National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R. Finkelstein, T.C., R.R.), National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (A.P.), National Institutes of Health; Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (D.S., C.E.B.), National Institutes of Health; John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (R. Fleming); National Human Genome Research Institute (F.S.C.), National Institutes of Health. emmeline.edwards@nih.gov.
Abstract:
Music-based interventions (MBIs) show promise for managing symptoms of various brain disorders. To fully realize the potential of MBIs and dispel the outdated misconception that MBIs are rooted in soft science, the NIH is promoting rigorously designed, well-powered MBI clinical trials. The pressing need of guidelines for scientifically rigorous studies with enhanced data collection brought together the Renée Fleming Foundation, the Foundation for the NIH, the Trans-NIH Music and Health Working Group, and an interdisciplinary scientific expert panel to create the NIH MBI Toolkit for research on music and health across the lifespan. The Toolkit defines the building blocks of MBIs, including a consolidated set of common data elements for MBI protocols, and core datasets of outcome measures and biomarkers for brain disorders of aging that researchers may select for their studies. Utilization of the guiding principles in this Toolkit will be strongly recommended for NIH-funded studies of MBIs.
