Verification of Preventive Effect of Dual-Task and N-Back Task- Incorporated Music Therapy against Dementia

Abstract

Introduction: Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) is the most dominant (more than 60%) in the whole dementia and the incidence of AD for people at age 65 years or older becomes twice with an increase in age by 5 years, so the development of countermeasures against it is an urgent issue. For improving cognitive functions, the effectiveness of dual-task (a task for which two different things are performed at the same time) and that of n-back task (a task for which delayed recall of a thing performed at n times ago is carried out) have been verified. In addition, we have also verified that distress has negative effects on cognitive functions. Hence, we started dual-task- and n-back task-incorporated intervention geared toward elderly people living in Kashihara-city. In this method, music therapy was adopted for the distress reduction and the eustress enhancement. The purposes of this study are to verify the preventive effect against dementia by the dual-task- and n-back task-incorporated music therapy and to measure the effect of music therapy on the distress reduction. In this study, the intervention group and the control group were compared during the intervention for three months. Methods: A screening test for mild cognitive impairment was carried out with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA test). Stress check was performed by collecting sublingual saliva and measuring α-amylase. Analysis was conducted with t-test corresponding to the comparison between the intervention group and the control group. Results: The intervention group showed significant improvement of cognitive functions and a decrease in distress, compared to the control group. Conclusion: The dual-task- and n-back task-incorporated music therapy improved cognitive functions and reduced distress. To verify this repeatedly to refine the technique and to accumulate effective programs are our future tasks.