Multimodal Musical Stimulation for Healthy Neurocognitive Aging

Part of paid clinical trials in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sponsor
Northeastern University
Study ID
NCT06229093
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Aging

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 95 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • Gamma — DEVICE
    For the OAg group, the visual component of multimodal stimulation will have the same properties as for the other group, except it will also be additionally amplitude-modulated in the gamma-band (30-60 Hz) range, resulting in a detectable flicker over-and-above the beat-level modulation.
  • Synchrony — DEVICE
    For the OA group, the lights will be tuned to delta-band frequencies (1-4 Hz) in the music, which corresponds to the beat-level frequency in most music. Thus, the lights automatically adapt to the rhythm of the music, pulsing on the beat and changing color on strong beats.

Study Details

This is a Stage I randomized, sham-controlled trial on the effects of multimodal musical stimulation on working memory in aging. Neurologically healthy older and younger adults will be tested on working memory and electroencephalography in the first randomized controlled trial of music as a form of brain stimulation, with multimodal musical stimulation and control stimulation conditions. Results will test the causal role of oscillatory mechanisms of the brain on cognition, and will lay the groundwork to the first musical, neurophysiologically targeted, brain-stimulation device for reversing cognitive decline in aging.

Key Dates

Start date
Dec 11, 2022
Status verified
Jul 2025
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2027
Completion
Dec 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

  • Sham Comparator: Older Adults (OA)
    The assignment of older adults to OA and OAg will be randomized. The within-subjects factor of stimulation modality includes 2 levels, to be administered in counterbalanced order: Visual (V, i.e., lights-only) and Audiovisual (AV, i.e., music-plus-lights). Each subject will be aware that they are receiving V and AV stimulation, and thus infer that we are comparing these two forms of stimulation and therefore assessing the effects of music. However, and important to the design of this study, all subjects will be blinded with respect to their group assignment; i.e., they will not know, until post-study debriefing, about the other arms of the study, and that the gamma-band stimulation is an active ingredient of the intervention.
  • Experimental: Older Adults Gamma (OAg)
    The assignment of older adults to OA and OAg will be randomized. The within-subjects factor of stimulation modality includes 2 levels, to be administered in counterbalanced order: Visual (V, i.e., lights-only) and Audiovisual (AV, i.e., music-plus-lights). Each subject will be aware that they are receiving V and AV stimulation, and thus infer that we are comparing these two forms of stimulation and therefore assessing the effects of music. However, and important to the design of this study, all subjects will be blinded with respect to their group assignment; i.e., they will not know, until post-study debriefing, about the other arms of the study, and that the gamma-band stimulation is an active ingredient of the intervention.

Primary Outcome Measure

EEG [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Northeastern UniversityBostonMassachusetts02115
Corinna Parrish
[email protected]
781-474-3141
Psyche Loui, PhD (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

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By research site
Northeastern University· Boston, MA

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