Abstract
Music therapy was provided to a patient in a minimally conscious state due to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a complement to conventional rehabilitation to augment residual brain function (40 minutes per session, 2-3 times per week). Four months after beginning music therapy, the patient could reproducibly strike a percussion instrument by a slight movement of the left hand. Furthermore, the patient could reproducibly choose a favorite song by responding to yes-or-no answers, and indicate the order of instruments played with eye movement. The patient showed improvement in the reproducibility and speed of responses necessary for expressing intentions. Eight months after starting the music therapy regimen, the patient could reproducibly push keys on a keyboard with the left hand and arm in an ascending and descending manner. As a result, the patient regained the ability to consistently express intent using the left upper limb. These results suggest that music therapy, as a method of rehabilitation in a patient with a minimally consciousness state after TBI, may have contributed to improvement of consciousness, as well as improvement in upper limb function to assist with expressing intentions.
