Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40538861›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neuroscience2025

Music-induced cognitive change and whole-brain network flexibility: a pilot study.

E Lydia Wu-Chung, Melia E Bonomo, Anthony K Brandt, Bryan T Denny, Christof Karmonik, J Todd Frazier, Karl Blench, Christopher P Fagundes

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04137913 (Project CHROMA), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT04137913 nacompletednot on this map

Project CHROMA (Cognitive Health Research on Musical Arts)

TypeinterventionalSponsorWilliam Marsh Rice UniversityRan2019 to 2023Enrolled81ConditionsCognitive Impairment, CreativityArmsMusical arts intervention
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

8 authors.

E Lydia Wu-ChungDepartment of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Melia E BonomoDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.
Anthony K BrandtShepherd School of Music, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.
Bryan T DennyDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.
Christof KarmonikTranslational Imaging Center, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States.
J Todd FrazierCenter for Performing Arts Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, United States.
Karl BlenchDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.
Christopher P FagundesDepartment of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Cognitive impairment that exceeds age-related cognitive decline is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. As the older adult population is notably increasing every year, significant efforts are being made to preserve cognitive function in older adulthood. Non-pharmaceutical approaches such as music interventions have noticeable benefits for cognition. Music engagement utilizes multiple brain regions dually involved in higher cognitive functions. Yet the neurobiology of music-induced cognitive change remains understudied. Complex human behavior and cognition likely depend on continuous communication across brain regions rather than localized activity in one region. Given that music creativity engages a wide range of mental processes, whole-brain network indices quantifying the brain's tendency to create functional communities (modularity) and then dynamically reorganize these communities (flexibility) may be relevant for assessing music-related cognitive change. Using a semi-randomized clinical trial design (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT04137913), we examined whether (1) music creativity altered whole-brain network indices (modularity, flexibility) and (2) whether music-related effects on cognition depended on whole-brain network indices. Methods: Fifty-two older adults (Mean age = 75 years; 54% female; 84% White) were randomized to a 6-week music creativity intervention ( Results: The music creativity intervention did not alter network flexibility or modularity over time. However, the relationship between group assignment and change in global cognitive function depended on baseline flexibility: music creativity improved global cognition more than the control condition, only among individuals who had higher than average network flexibility. Discussion: Findings suggest that having a dynamic brain network, which has previously been linked to better executive functioning performance, may be necessary for music-related benefits on cognition. This pilot study is innovative as it is among the first to identify possible neural mechanisms underlying why music creativity interventions confer a more significant cognitive benefit for some older adults than others.

Indexed as

cognitioncreativityflexibilityfMRImild cognitive impairmentmusic interventionnetwork analysisolder adulthood

Identifiers

PMID40538861
PMCPMC12176889

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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.