Music in the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of people with prolonged disorders of consciousness

ABSTRACT

Using music with people with prolonged disorders of consciousness (PDOC) has progressed considerably in recent years. Using both imaging and behavioural measures has revealed music’s potential for enhancing arousal and awareness, boosting cognition and improving behavioural outcomes when compared to non-music conditions. Furthermore, music may have prognostic potential with this population. Explanations for these effects draw on music’s potential to simultaneously excite the networks implicated in internal self-referential awareness and external awareness. A music-based protocol and measure for PDOC has been standardised that demonstrates particular sensitivity to assessment of auditory responsiveness, an important factor with a population where visual impairment is prevalent. Such measures can now contribute to interdisciplinary assessment of awareness in people with PDOC. Reviewing the latest research on this topic, priorities for research are identified. These include examining music’s potential for prognosis of recovery, as well as its influence on the rate of emergence from PDOC, particularly its capacity to elicit heightened responsiveness across sensory domains when compared to non-music interventions. Research comparing the efficacy of live versus recorded music will help to inform evidence-based protocols. Lastly, its potential as a modality for assessment and treatment with paediatric PDOC populations should also be explored.

KEYWORDS:

• Music therapy
• Prolonged disorders of consciousness
• Diagnosis
• Awareness
• Brain injury

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Wendy L. Magee http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4350-1289