Music as a therapeutic tool for primary progressive aphasia
a case study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/2176-2724.2025v37i4e71918Keywords:
Primary Progressive Aphasia, Primary Progressive Nonfluent Aphasia, Music, Language Therapy, Speech Therapy, Speech, Language and Hearing SciencesAbstract
Introduction: Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the gradual and permanent loss of language components. Objective: This case report aims to investigate the feasibility and effects of music as a speech-language therapy tool in an intervention with an individual diagnosed with PPA. Method: An intervention was carried out with an 84-year-old male individual, with eleven years of formal education and a diagnosis of non-fluent/agrammatic PPA at a moderate stage. The music-based intervention aimed to stimulate speech fluency and memory and was conducted over 10 sessions, each lasting 45 minutes, in addition to daily reinforcements supervised by a family caregiver. The participant was evaluated before and after the experiment using the following instruments: Montreal-Toulouse Language Assessment Battery (MTL-Brazil), Functional Assessment of Communication Skills (ASHA-FACS Brazil), and a questionnaire assessing the participants’ and caregivers’ perceptions of the intervention’s effects. Results: The use of music in speech-language intervention proved to be feasible, with engagement from both the participant and his family. Quantitative results indicated slight improvement in verbal abilities and non-verbal praxis tests, stability in comprehension tests, and decline in discourse tasks. Qualitative analysis revealed benefits in comprehension, mood, and overall well-being of the participant. Conclusion: Music had positive effects in the intervention with this individual with PPA. However, since the results were varied, it is not possible to attribute them solely to music, which appears to be a plausible resource for speech-language therapy.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Juliana Envangelista Morais, Aline Juliane Romann, Barbara Costa Beber
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