The goal of this study is to identify the neural mechanisms of induced calmness through live clinically designed improvisatory music (CDIM) in cognitively healthy individuals and persons with Alzheimer's dementia suffering from agitation. This study is novel as most music interventions for dementia use familiar music and the underlying neural mechanism of calmness induced by music is not well known. We plan to investigate changes in 3 major large-scale brain networks using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The major questions we plan to answer are as follows: 1. How does improvisatory music change the connectivity within brain emotion related networks in neurotypical individuals? 2. Does improvisatory music induce a state of calmness in individuals with Alzheimer's dementia and how? Based on objective evidence provided by this study we can justify further usage of music for patients with Alzheimer's, in particular, in the form of improvisation.
Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music (CDIM) is a form of improvised music based on calm-inducing sound parameters which brought relief to our cohort of neurology patients. As a direct sound-based approach, CDIM does not rely on autobiographical memory and may have wider applicability and generalizability. We wish to examine if CDIM decreases anxiety in 15 cognitively healthy individuals and 15 Alzheimer Disease patients with anxiety (AD-A).