Resumen de Music-supported therapy induced plasticity in the sensorimotor cortex after stroke
During the past years, an increasing interest has been devoted to the study of the potential helping effects of music. Numerous studies aim to elucidate the neural basis of music and its connection with other cognitive and motor processes. In this context, Music-supported therapy (MST) has been recently applied as a new rehabilitation technique providing new insights on the rehabilitation field. Recent research has revealed that MST has positive effects on motor recovery after stroke patients. In regards to brain plasticity reorganization, MST induces brain plastic changes in stroke patients as it is revealed by neuroimaging techniques (fMRI or TMS). Besides, after MST there is a restitution of connectivity in the auditory-motor network in stroke patients as revealed by functional connectivity analysis. In this dissertation we tried to elucidate which are the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of MST. We studied the effects of MST applied in a sample of twenty chronic right-handed stroke patients (Chronic group). Motor function, cognitive and mood domain were assessed before and after the therapy. Moreover functional connectivity techniques were applied to elucidate the dynamics of the auditory-motor coupling in MST. A control healthy group (Control group) were matched for age, sex and education. This group was evaluated also in two different time points, separated for one and a half months approximately and using the same battery of evaluations in order to evaluate repetition effects. This experiment pretended to investigate the neurophysiological mechanism underlying the effectiveness observed in the MST of previous studies, evaluate the dynamics of the auditory-motor mechanism by functional connectivity analysis and evaluate the effects of music on the cognitive and emotional domains. We hypothesised motor, cognitive and mood improvements, brain plasticity reorganization on motor related areas, as well as an increase in functional connectivity of the auditory-motor circuit after the implementation of the MST in a sample of chronic stroke patients. Moreover, we examined the structure/function relationship that exist between different neuroimaging techniques (TMS and DTI) in order to predict functional recovery following stroke in a group of chronic stroke patients.
