11/19/2025
Moving to musical rhythm significantly improves gait and other motor functions compared to self-paced movement in neurorehabilitation.
Using brain network science, a recent collaborative study between researchers at the University of Toronto Music and Health Research Collaboratory (MaHRC) and Wake Forest University sheds new light on why this occurs:
✨ Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS)® optimizes how neurons talk to each other and harnesses them into a more closely connected and well synchronized brain network in the Basal Ganglia, a critical region for rehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease. Stable, tightly coupled, and efficient neural connections are necessary engines to improve timing, consistency, and spatial control of movement. This evidence of strong plasticity in connectivity in neural networks is key in understanding why music/rhythm based Neurologic Music Therapy® interventions are powerful neuromodulatory tools.
You can read the full paper here:
Lavigne S, Burdette J, Bahrami M, Laurien P, Lyday R, Thaut MH. 2025. Altered
basal ganglia networks topology associated with auditory-motor
synchronization. Brain & Behavior, doi.org/10.1002/brb3.70695
Available at: nmtacademy.co/research-publications/
Additional studies:
Pranjic M, Braun Janzen T, Vuksic N, Thaut MH. 2024. From sound to
movement: Mapping neural mechanisms of auditory-motor entrainment
and synchronization. Brain Sciences, doi.org/10.3390/brainsci14111063
Koshimori Y, Thaut MH. 2023. Rhythmic auditory stimulation as potential
neuromodulator for Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson and Related Disorders,
doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2023.105459
