Abstract
Based on our 10 years of clinical experience, we explored optimal music therapy practices in neurological clinics. Disorders evaluated for music therapy were Parkinson′s disease, motor aphasia, dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Although the methods, frequency, and purpose differed among such diseases, we concluded that the optimal practices at our clinic involved patients with Parkinson′s disease and motor aphasia. The highest utilization rate of music therapy was for the former patients, and, in the latter patients, the duration of music therapy was the longest among our patients. For patients with Parkinson′s disease, group music therapy was effective to improve both motor and non-motor symptoms. In motor aphasia, improvements in the QOL such as emotional stability and motivation, rather than improvements in language ability, were noted in individual music therapy. Thus, music therapy might be effective for QOL improvement in the chronic stage of some neurological diseases, particularly Parkinson′s disease and motor aphasia.
