Abstract
Music therapy is regarded as a non-pharmacological treatment to improve cognitive, psychological and behavioural alterations in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the general hearing loss in AD patients decreases their musical perception and the efficacy of music therapy. This paper presents a wearable vibrotactile prototype, a multisensory system that translates music into vibrotactile stimuli. We conducted an exploratory study with 8 older adults with Alzheimer’s disease to evaluate whether the prototype can improve the therapeutic effects of music therapy. Qualitative and quantitative analysis were utilized to explore different aspects of the prototype, and results showed that combining music therapy and vibrotactile stimuli leads to obvious improvement in cognitive scores. Results also demonstrated the contribution of vibrotactile stimuli in promoting positive emotions and rhythmic behaviors in elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and the fingertips are suitable body parts for wearable vibration devices.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alzheimer’s Disease International Net. https://www.alz.co.uk/about-dementia
Woods, R.: Discovering the person with Alzheimer’s disease: cognitive, emotional and behavioural aspects. Aging. Ment. Health 5, 7–16 (2001)
McKhann, G.M., et al.: The diagnosis of dementia due to alzheimer’s disease: recommendations from the national institute on aging-alzheimer’s association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers. Dement. 7, 263–269 (2011)
Bender, M.P., Cheston, R.: Inhabitants of a lost kingdom: a model of the subjective experiences of dementia. Aging. Soc. 17, 513–532 (1997)
Olazarán, J., et al.: Nonpharmacological therapies in Alzheimer’s disease: a systematic review of efficacy. Dement. Geriatr. Cogn. Disord. 30, 161–178 (2010)
Livingston, G., et al.: Non-pharmacological interventions for agitation in dementia: systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Br. J. Psychiatry 205, 436–442 (2014)
Thaut, M., Hoemberg, V.: Handbook of Neurologic Music Therapy. Oxford University Press, New York (2014)
Lin, F.R., et al.: Hearing loss and cognitive decline in older adults. JAMA. Int. Med. 173, 293–299 (2013)
Darrow, A.A., Novak, J.: The effect of vision and hearing loss on listeners’ perception of referential meaning in music. J. Music Ther. 44, 57–73 (2007)
Good, A., Reed, M.J., Russo, F.A.: Compensatory plasticity in the deaf brain: effects on perception of music. Brain. Sci. 4, 560–574 (2014)
Campbell, E.A., Hynynen, J., Ala-Ruona, E.: Vibroacoustic treatment for chronic pain and mood disorders in a specialized healthcare setting. Music Med. 9, 187–197 (2017)
Yamazaki, Y., Mitake, H., Hasegawa, S.: Tension-based wearable vibroacoustic device for music appreciation. In: Bello, F., Kajimoto, H., Visell, Y. (eds.) EuroHaptics 2016. LNCS, vol. 9775, pp. 273–283. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42324-1_27
Lederman, S.J., Klatzky, R.L.: Haptic perception: a tutorial. Atten. Percept. Psychophys. 71, 1439–1459 (2009)
Karam, M., Russo, F.A., Fels, D.I.: Designing the model human cochlea: an ambient crossmodal audio-tactile display. IEEE Trans. Haptics 2, 160–169 (2009)
Florian, H., et al.: Deaf people feeling music rhythm by using a sensing and actuating device. Sens. Actuators. A. Phys. 267, 431–442 (2017)
Jones, L.A., Sarter, N.B.: Tactile displays: guidance for their design and application. Hum. Factors 50, 90–111 (2008)
Thaut, M.H., Thaut, M.: Rhythm, Music, and the Brain: Scientific Foundations and Clinical Applications. Routledge, Abingdon (2005)
Baird, A., Garrido, S., Tamplin, J.: Music and Dementia: From Cognition to Therapy. Oxford University Press, New York (2019)
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., McHugh, P.R.: “Mini-mental State”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J. Psychiatry. Res. 12, 189–198 (1975)
Liu, J., Wang, Y., Wang, X., Song, R., Yi, X.: Reliability and validity of the chinese version of geriatric depression scale among Chinese urban community-dwelling elderly population (in Chinese). Chin. J. Clin. Psychol. 21, 39–41 (2013)
Ekman, P., Friesen, W.V.: Unmasking the face: a guide to recognizing emotions from facial clues. In: ISHK (2003)
Huisman, G., Frederiks, A.D., van Erp, Jan B.F., Heylen, Dirk K.J.: Simulating affective touch: using a vibrotactile array to generate pleasant stroking sensations. In: Bello, F., Kajimoto, H., Visell, Y. (eds.) EuroHaptics 2016. LNCS, vol. 9775, pp. 240–250. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42324-1_24
Treadaway, D.C., Kenning, D.G., Coleman, S.: Designing for positive emotion: ludic artefacts to support wellbeing for people with dementia. In: Colors of Care: 9th International Conference on Design and Emotion Bogota (2014)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Fang, Y., Ou, J., Bryan-Kinns, N., Kang, Q., Zhang, J., Guo, B. (2021). Using Vibrotactile Device in Music Therapy to Support Wellbeing for People with Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Rebelo, F. (eds) Advances in Ergonomics in Design. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 261. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79760-7_43
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79760-7_43
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-79759-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-79760-7
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)