Musical neglect training for chronic persistent left hemispatial neglect with right hemiplegia post-stroke: a case report.
Yuka Kasuya-Ueba, Koji Maeda
PMID 39839741WHAT IT FOUND
One man with severe left neglect improved his line cancellation scores from 33 to 4 after 18 months of playing instruments placed on his left side.
The gains held for 6 months after stopping therapy. This is a single case, so it does not prove the method works for others.
Key findings
01The patient's line cancellation score improved from 33 to 4 over 18 months of therapy.
02Improvements in daily activities like wheelchair use and eating persisted for 6 months after therapy ended.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
This is a single case report, so it cannot determine if the treatment works for other patients. Only one subtest of the Behavioural Inattention Test was used, which may not capture the full picture of neglect. Daily function improvements were based on staff observation rather than a standardized scale. The patient continued receiving routine physical and occupational therapy, so it is unclear if the music therapy alone caused the improvement.
Declared interests
The research was partially funded by JSPS KAKENHI grant number 20K11253.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this patient's recovery was caused solely by the music therapy. He also received routine physical and occupational therapy during the study, and the care staff actively helped him with meals, so the specific contribution of the music training cannot be isolated from these other supports.