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Use of a Mobile Brain-Body Imaging Approach to Evaluate the Effects of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation on Gait and Brain Function in Alzheimer's Disease
Who can join
Ages 50 to 90 · All sexes · Healthy volunteers welcome
Full eligibility criteria
Inclusion Criteria: General Inclusion (both healthy and AD populations): * Community-dwelling * Capable of walking short community distances (approximately 10-15 minutes at a time) without assistance from another person or a device (such as a cane). * Able to communicate with researchers * Age 50-90 (inclusive) Population-specific Inclusion criteria: * Healthy - * No diagnosis of AD * AD population- CERAD score of \<1.5 SD from age + education adjusted norms on delayed recall domain or one or more other cognitive domains (i.e. language, attention). MoCA score between 20-30 MMSE score between 25-30 Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of significant hearing impairment * Current orthopedic, neurologic or other medical condition that limits the ability to walk. The MOCA, MMSE and CERAD tests will be completed in-person after the participant consents into the study. If the participant is determined to be ineligible based on their performance on these tests (compared to inclusion requirements listed above), they will be informed that they are not eligible for this study and the study visit will be cancelled. They will then be withdrawn from the study; their clinical tests and study documentation will be maintained for the purposes of completeness, but will not be used for any study analyses.
About the study
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is associated with impairments in both gait and cognition, significantly increasing fall risk. Falls are a leading cause of injury-related disability in older adults, and individuals with AD experience a nearly threefold higher rate of falls compared to neurotypical older adults. There is an urgent need for fall prevention interventions tailored to the unique deficits of individuals with AD. Converging evidence suggests that interventions aiming to reduce fall risk in AD should target both gait and cognition. Rhythmic music interventions, such as Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) can harness global brain activation and auditory-motor entrainment to facilitate high-intensity exercise to alleviate AD-related neurocognitive and gait dysfunction. This study aims to assess the neural correlates of gait dysfunction in people with AD, evaluate if baseline neurocognitive impairment is predictive of the effects of RAS, and evaluate RAS benefits for individuals with AD.
What is being tested
- Metronome (other)
Sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus · Participants: 40 · Started: Jun 1, 2026
Contact the study team
- Regina Sloutsky, PT, DPT, PhD · Phone: 617-500-3645
- Louis N Awad, PT, DPT, PhD · Phone: 617-500-3645
Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT07659964
Locations in the U.S.
| Massachusetts | Boston University Neuromotor Recovery Laboratory, Boston |
Conditions
From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.