Classical music in cognitive rehabilitation: Three case studies of spatial neglect
- 1Paris Brain Institute
Abstract
Chronic spatial neglect after right-hemisphere stroke reflects network dysfunction, with recovery influenced by structural connectivity. Music recruits coordinated bi-hemispheric activity and may promote interhemispheric communication after stroke. Following our pilot study in post-stroke aphasia, we asked whether classical music modulates connectivity and behavior in chronic neglect. Three patients completed a crossover protocol comparing two weeks of daily audiovisual classical music with an audiobook control, with neglect, mood, quality-of-life, diffusion MRI, and resting-state high-density EEG measures. All showed right superior longitudinal fasciculus II disconnection with preserved callosal pathways. In N2, line bisection shifted leftward across all five lines after music, together with increased posterior interhemispheric theta-band weighted symbolic mutual information (wSMI), then deteriorated into the pathological range after the audiobook, without mood improvement. N1 showed mixed behavioral effects, with mood and quality of life improving after music. N3 showed no significant spatial improvement and worsened mood after music. These heterogeneous responses motivate larger studies of connectional predictors. The findings support the feasibility of classical music as an adjunct to neglect rehabilitation and suggest that cognitive changes may occur independently of mood, while the audiobook cannot be considered an inert control.
Related
- HemiBot: design and technical validation of an adaptive Robotic coaching system for Unilateral Spatial Neglect rehabilitation
- A chromosome-level genome assembly of the classical model nematode Panagrellus redivivus for comparative studies of parasitism evolution
- Take it personally: Promoting a personalised neuroscience informed approach to cognitive rehabilitation following psychopathology.
- Who, how, and how much? A scoping review of brain-computer interface studies for upper-limb stroke rehabilitation
- Comparing the efficacy of LORETA neurofeedback versus cognitive rehabilitation on working memory in children with learning disorders: A double-blind clinical trial.
BibTeX
@misc{zeineldin2026classical,
title = {{Classical music in cognitive rehabilitation: Three case studies of spatial neglect}},
author = {R. Zeineldin and Y. Takamura and M. Chea and L. Naccache and E. Bayen and M. N. Toba and P. Bartolomeo},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.18.751660},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.751660v1},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Classical music in cognitive rehabilitation: Three case studies of spatial neglect
AU - R. Zeineldin
AU - Y. Takamura
AU - M. Chea
AU - L. Naccache
AU - E. Bayen
AU - M. N. Toba
AU - P. Bartolomeo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.18.751660
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.751660v1
AB - Chronic spatial neglect after right-hemisphere stroke reflects network dysfunction, with recovery influenced by structural connectivity. Music recruits coordinated bi-hemispheric activity and may promote interhemispheric communication after stroke. Following our pilot study in post-stroke aphasia, we asked whether classical music modulates connectivity and behavior in chronic neglect. Three patients completed a crossover protocol comparing two weeks of daily audiovisual classical music with an audiobook control, with neglect, mood, quality-of-life, diffusion MRI, and resting-state high-density EEG measures. All showed right superior longitudinal fasciculus II disconnection with preserved callosal pathways. In N2, line bisection shifted leftward across all five lines after music, together with increased posterior interhemispheric theta-band weighted symbolic mutual information (wSMI), then deteriorated into the pathological range after the audiobook, without mood improvement. N1 showed mixed behavioral effects, with mood and quality of life improving after music. N3 showed no significant spatial improvement and worsened mood after music. These heterogeneous responses motivate larger studies of connectional predictors. The findings support the feasibility of classical music as an adjunct to neglect rehabilitation and suggest that cognitive changes may occur independently of mood, while the audiobook cannot be considered an inert control.
ER -