Revolutionizing Alzheimer's Clinical Trials: NIH Launches Cutting-Edge Online Tool to Boost Recruitment!
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has created a new tool to help increase participation in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias clinical trials. This tool, called Outreach Pro, was unveiled at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC). Outreach Pro helps researchers customize and create participant recruitment communications like videos, social media posts, websites, and handouts. The need for participants in clinical trials is growing, and it's especially important to get people from underrepresented groups like Black and Hispanic Americans to join. The director of the NIA, Richard J. Hodes M.D., said that Outreach Pro will help researchers connect with these important communities and meet the critical need for people to participate in these clinical trials.
Northwestern University and Institute for Therapy through the Arts
A recent study found that music as a form of therapy improved social interactions between dementia patients and their caregivers.
Participating in musical performances can provide a shared experience and create a sense of connection and familiarity. It can also help to stimulate memories and emotions.
Researchers found that listening to personalized music can activate specific areas of the brain associated with memory. The study found “widespread increases in functional connectivity . . . following presentation of preferred musical stimuli, suggesting a transient effect on brain function.”
University of Utah
University of California, Davis
A three year study conducted by researchers at UC Davis found that personalized music reduces the amount of medication taken by nursing home residents and improves behavior.
Researchers studied 4,107 residents in 265 California nursing homes and found that the use of antipsychotic drugs declined by 13% and anti-anxiety medications declined by 17% each quarter for residents with dementia using the music program.
Northeastern University, Berklee School of Music, Harvard Medical School, and McGill University
A study shows that listening to pleasurable music engages brain’s reward system. “By mindfully listening to music . . . participants can change their auditory-reward connectivity. As the reward system is important for many kinds of motivated behavior, these results have profound implications for the design of lifestyle interventions, such as music listening . . . .”