Music therapy with disorders of consciousness:Current evidence and emergent evidence-based practice

Music therapy is a clinical healthcare discipline that draws its evidence base from a number of theoretical frameworks, including psychology and music neuroscience to improve the health and well-being in individuals from varied clinical populations. Working with individuals across the lifespan, evidence-based therapeutic methods are developed from an understanding of musicperception and cognition. However, there are several key challenges. First, developing a theory-based clinical and research approach is necessary to deepen understandings of the complex interactions between music stimulusand therapeutic outcomes. Second, establishing means for evaluating the effects of intervention using neurophyisiological and behavioral measures is challenging. Issues of practice and measurement are confounded by thecomplex presentations typical of many clinical populations. The aim of this workshop is to present the latest developments in music therapy intervention and measurement with people with disorders of consciousness stemming fromacquired profound brain injury. We will share a standardized clinical protocol and examine recent research findings that illustrate the benefits of music-based methods at a cortical level using EEG methods. The workshop aims to stimulate dialogue with the neuromusicology community in order to heighten awareness ofthe clinical challenges faced in the course of applying evidence in the theory, practice, and measurement of music as a clinical tool