Shimizu N, et al. - The effects of movement music therapy (MMT) with a percussion instrument on physical and frontal lobe function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were investigated in this randomized controlled trial. In these older adult participants with MCI, the MMT program seemed to stimulate the pre-frontal cortex (PFC) and improve cognitive performance, implying that the repetitive, rhythmic movements of MMT could activate the prefrontal area in older adults.

• In this randomized, controlled, single-blind intervention trial, 45 older adult participants with MCI (74.62 ± 5.05 years) were enrolled.
• The authors assigned 35 to the MMT group and 10 to the control STT group.
• They administered 6 physical function tests, the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and measured relative oxyhemoglobin concentrations using 45-multichannel functional near-infrared spectroscopy as a reflection of hemodynamic responses in the PFC before and after the 12-week exercise program.

• Significant improvements were observed in FAB scores only in the MMT group.
• During the exercise, cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the PFC was significantly increased in the MMT group compared with the STT group.
• In the MMT group, the CBF increase was significantly correlated among various channels.