Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33022148›Full record

Trial reportAnnals of clinical and translational neurology2020

Vocal music enhances memory and language recovery after stroke: pooled results from two RCTs.

Aleksi J Sihvonen, Vera Leo, Pablo Ripollés, Terhi Lehtovaara, Aki Ylönen, Pekka Rajanaro, Sari Laitinen, Anita Forsblom, Jani Saunavaara, Taina Autti and 5 more

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Annals of clinical and translational neurology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 39 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06402253 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Social Media Artistic tRaining in Teenagers

TypeinterventionalSponsorNew York UniversityRan2024 to 2026Enrolled61ConditionsHealthy Subjects, Mental Health IssueArmsMusic composition / edition, Photography composition / edition
NCT07127159 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Feasibility of a Music Listening Intervention for Mental Health Recovery in Chronic Stroke

TypeinterventionalSponsorNew York UniversityRan2025 to 2026Enrolled60ConditionsStrokeArmsIntentional Music Listening, Audiobook Listening
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. The effect of music therapy on language recovery in patients with aphasia after stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022
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  20. Altered Dynamic Functional Network Connectivity in Post-Stroke Aphasia.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

Aleksi J SihvonenCognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-4501-7338
Vera LeoCognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0003-2638-9918
Pablo RipollésDepartment of Psychology, New York University, New York, New York.
Terhi LehtovaaraPrivate Music Therapy Practitioner, Turku, Finland.
Aki YlönenPrivate Music Therapy Practitioner, Turku, Finland.
Pekka RajanaroPrivate Music Therapy Practitioner, Turku, Finland.
Sari LaitinenPrivate Music Therapy Practitioner, Helsinki, Finland.
Anita ForsblomPrivate Music Therapy Practitioner, Helsinki, Finland.
Jani SaunavaaraDepartment of Medical Physics, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.
Taina AuttiDepartment of Radiology, HUS Medical Imaging Center, Helsinki University Central Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Matti LaineDepartment of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Antoni Rodríguez-FornellsCognition and Brain Plasticity Group, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
Mari TervaniemiCognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Seppo SoinilaDivision of Clinical Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Teppo SärkämöCognitive Brain Research Unit, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-1470-4530
University of Helsinki · FIÅbo Akademi University · FIInstitució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats · ESNew York University · USTurku University Hospital · FIUniversity of Turku · FI

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePrevious studies suggest that daily music listening can aid stroke recovery, but little is known about the stimulus-dependent and neural mechanisms driving this effect. Building on neuroimaging evidence that vocal music engages extensive and bilateral networks in the brain, we sought to determine if it would be more effective for enhancing cognitive and language recovery and neuroplasticity than instrumental music or speech after stroke.

methodsUsing data pooled from two single-blind randomized controlled trials in stroke patients (N = 83), we compared the effects of daily listening to self-selected vocal music, instrumental music, and audiobooks during the first 3 poststroke months. Outcome measures comprised neuropsychological tests of verbal memory (primary outcome), language, and attention and a mood questionnaire performed at acute, 3-month, and 6-month stages and structural and functional MRI at acute and 6-month stages.

resultsListening to vocal music enhanced verbal memory recovery more than instrumental music or audiobooks and language recovery more than audiobooks, especially in aphasic patients. Voxel-based morphometry and resting-state and task-based fMRI results showed that vocal music listening selectively increased gray matter volume in left temporal areas and functional connectivity in the default mode network.

interpretationVocal music listening is an effective and easily applicable tool to support cognitive recovery after stroke as well as to enhance early language recovery in aphasia. The rehabilitative effects of vocal music are driven by both structural and functional plasticity changes in temporoparietal networks crucial for emotional processing, language, and memory.

Indexed as

ConnectomeMusicMusic TherapyOutcome Assessment, Health CareSingingStroke RehabilitationAgedCerebral CortexCognitive DysfunctionDefault Mode NetworkFemaleHumansLanguageMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle Aged

Identifiers

PMID33022148
PMCPMC7664275
OpenAlexW3092335137

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.