# Auditory-motor entrainment of fine motor function via Neurologic Music Therapy

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $128,281

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Parkinson's disease (PD) is among the most common neurological diseases and its prevalence will continue to
increase due to the aging of the global population. Although our ability to medically treat gross motor
symptoms have advanced tremendously since the 1960's based on advances in our understanding of
neurophysiology, medication side effects and limited benefit for fine motor functions often leave PD patients
with significant fine motor disability. It is time to consider alternative treatments to specifically target motor
physiology and rehabilitate motor function. I propose that the treatment of fine motor symptoms in PD via
Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) is effective and that this treatment can be further optimized through an
understanding of its neurobiological mechanisms. My long-term goal is to advance our fundamental
understanding of the neurophysiology of fine motor dysfunction across neuropsychiatric disorders, with a
specific emphasis on brain networks connectivity, in order to develop novel fine motor therapies. My short-term
goal for this proposal is to unravel the auditory-motor oscillatory pathways targeted by NMT and to investigate
the potential rehabilitative benefit in PD. I hypothesize that auditory-motor entrainment of beta and gamma
oscillations through NMT results in changing patterns of functional cortical connectivity critical to normal fine
motor skills, and that are disrupted by subcortical pathology in PD. This hypothesis has been formulated on the
basis of preliminary data presented in this proposal and other previously published work. The research
objectives of this proposal are to use magnetoencephalography (MEG) to improve our understanding of
auditory-motor entrainment of beta and gamma rhythms via NMT, to probe its feasibility in PD and to further
test its benefit on fine motor problems in PD. We will accomplish the objectives of this application by pursuing
the following Specific Aims: 1) To characterize Neurologic Music Therapy specific networks and efficacy no
brain function in comparison with Occupational Therapy or no treatment; and 2) To assess the functional
impact of Neurologic Music Therapy on fine motor skills and quality of life in PD. The approach is innovative
because it combines investigation of rhythmic entrainment of the motor cortex as a symptomatic treatment with
a feasibility study applied to a movement disorder. The proposed research is significant because it will lay the
foundation for an empirically testable therapeutic model of motor rehabilitation relevant to alternative and
complementary interventions for fine motor dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders and will provide the first
substantive evidence of the oscillatory mechanisms of NMT and its effects on fine motor control. The training
objectives of this award will help me develop new skills and methods to establish my independence and obtain
R01 funding to advance this unique and important research progr...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9851823
- **Project number:** 5K01AT009894-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Isabelle Buard
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $128,281
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9851823

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9851823, Auditory-motor entrainment of fine motor function via Neurologic Music Therapy (5K01AT009894-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9851823. Licensed CC0.

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