Network connectivity differences in music listening among older adults following a music-based intervention

Abstract

Music-based interventions are a common feature in long-term care with clinical reports highlighting music’s ability to engage individuals with complex diagnoses. While these findings are promising, normative findings from healthy controls are needed to disambiguate treatment effects unique to pathology and those seen in healthy aging. The present study examines brain network dynamics during music listening in a sample of healthy older adults before and after a music-based intervention. We found intervention effects from hidden Markov model-estimated fMRI network data. Following the intervention, participants demonstrated greater occupancy (the amount of time a network was occupied) in a temporal-mesolimbic network. We conclude that network dynamics in healthy older adults are sensitive to music-based interventions. We discuss these findings’ implications for future studies with individuals with neurodegeneration.