Music Listening for Mental Health Recovery After Stroke
Feasibility of a Music Listening Intervention for Mental Health Recovery in Chronic Stroke
Who can join
Ages 50 to 90 · All sexes
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Participants aged 50 to 90 * Confirmed diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke occurring at least six months prior to enrollment. Exclusion Criteria: * Significant hearing loss, defined by a score \>26 on the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening (HHIE-S; Ventry and Weinstein, 1982) * Contraindications for MRI * Significant cognitive impairment, defined as a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nasreddine et al., 2005) score below 22 (unless the lower score is attributable to expressive aphasia) * Specific musical anhedonia, defined as a score below 60 on the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ; Mas-Herrero et al., 2013) * Amusia, defined as a score below 70% on the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA; Peretz et al., 2003). * Participants will not be excluded if currently taking medications that may affect brain function (e.g., antidepressants) or if engaged in other complementary therapies (e.g., mindfulness, yoga). Participants will be allowed to initiate new medications or therapies during the study period.
About the study
This study aims to explore whether listening to music intentionally can support the mental health of people recovering from a stroke. The question the investigators aim to answer is: Can intentional music listening improve emotional well-being in stroke survivors? And if so, what kinds of changes might music listening induce in mental health, thinking and memory (cognition), and brain activity? Participants will be randomly assigned to listen to either music or an audiobook for one hour each day, at home, for four weeks. Participants will also attend four in-person sessions with the researchers: at the start of the study (baseline), just before the listening period begins, after the four weeks are complete, and at a follow-up. During these visits, researchers will gather information about participants' mood and mental health (via questionnaires), assess memory and attention (via cognitive tasks), and use MRI scans to look at brain activity.
What is being tested
- Intentional Music Listening (behavioral)
- Audiobook Listening (behavioral)
Sponsor: New York University · Participants: 60 · Started: Jul 1, 2025
Contact the study team
- Pablo Ripolles, PhD · Phone: + 1212-998-5424
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07127159
Locations in the U.S.
| New York | New York University, New York |
Conditions
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.