Natania A's Senior Project Blog

Project Title: Effects of Music on Language Abilities in Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder
BASIS Advisor: Brittany Holtzman
Internship Location: Paseo Village
Onsite Mentor: Dr. Julia Lesselyong



Project Abstract

For my senior project, I will be studying the effects of music on language abilities in patients in assisted living facilities with various neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder. Music is known to improve people’s mood and memory by invoking emotions that activate the brain and has therefore been proven to play a therapeutic role in dementia patients. Although music’s beneficial role in the language and memory of dementia patients has been observed, can similar effects be observed in patients with other psychiatric disorders? Moreover, will music have an impact on patients’ language in the short term by increasing their mood and attention in the given moment? From conducting my study, I hope to find that listening to music improves language processing and speaking abilities in the short term for patients with any of the four neurological disorders being tested.

    My Posts:

  • Thank You!

    Hello everyone! Welcome to my final blog post! I have spent this past week finishing up my final paper, poster, and presentation. While I am almost done with my poster, my paper, presentation, and first rehearsal have been successfully completed, and I am looking forward to presenting my research and final product to my audience!... Read More

  • Considering Language Barriers and More Data Analysis!

    This past week has been another eventful one, as I finished seeing the last few residents at Sunshine and have completed the data collection portion of my project! One of the participants was a native Spanish speaker, and therefore struggled more with the language test than other participants simply due to language barriers. However, she... Read More

  • Wrapping Up Data Collection and Starting Data Analysis

    Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! This week, I did not put in as much time as usual into my project, as I traveled to Pennsylvania for accepted students day at Penn State! However, I still managed to continue to administer the second language assessment to a few of the residents at Paseo... Read More

  • Final Presentation, Paper, and Poster Preparation

    Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I am excited to announce that I have started working on my final presentation, and for my final product, I will be preparing a poster and writing up a final paper. As this project was originally inspired by my Linguistics capstone, I had already completed the premise... Read More

  • Meeting a Participant with Cortical Blindness and Establishing a Final Sample Size

    Hey everyone! During this past week, I have continued to administer the second language test to residents at Paseo and Fairmont, and have administered the first language test to a few residents at Sunshine. Although some residents did score lower in the presence of music, the majority of residents scored higher when music was a... Read More

  • Discussing Statistical Analysis and Making Friends with the Residents

    During this past week, I visited Sunshine Village, the third assisted living facility in the trifecta, for the first time with Dr. L. This environment was one of my favorites, as the facility really did feel like a home rather than a memory care or behavioral unit. With a large grass area in the middle... Read More

  • Pediatric Psychology Exploration and Recount of Facility Experiences

    In my readings this past week, I have delved deeper into the applications of music therapy beyond the scope of the population I have currently been working with, senior assisted living residents battling neurological and psychiatric disorders. For example, in children, I learned that music can be used for various psychological and neurological disorders, including... Read More

  • Connecting with Residents by Implementing Visual Supplements to the Language Test

    Hi everyone! I am happy to share that I’ve continued to make progress with more residents from Paseo Village. This time, I did not play music for any of the residents and found that residents were still receptive to my questions, so I am looking forward to meeting some of these residents for a second... Read More

  • Residents React Positively and Negatively to the Music

    Hey everyone! I have greatly enjoyed making advancements with my senior project this past week, as I have finally started working directly with patients! This past Thursday, I began administering my language assessments for the first time. At Paseo Village, I saw the six patients I had previously gained consent from. I played music for... Read More

  • Visiting Residents and Obtaining Consent

    Hello again! This week has been exciting and eventful, as I visited Dr. L and the residents at Paseo Village for the first time last Thursday. The day began with a staff meeting that I had the opportunity to observe, during which Dr. L spoke with the nurses about how each resident was doing, discussed... Read More

  • Senior Project Jumpstart!

    Hey everyone! I will be visiting Paseo Village for the first time tomorrow to officially start my research project. However, the process leading up to this point has been a lengthy one. Preparing for the start of my project, I composed an informed consent form for the potential participants of my study and gained IRB... Read More

  • Intro to Senior Project

    Hello everyone, I am Natania Arun! Welcome to my senior project blog! I am a senior at BASIS Phoenix, and I will be completing my research project on the effects of music therapy on language abilities in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Schizophrenia, and Bipolar Disorder.  As a clarinetist in our school’s symphonic band... Read More