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NIH awards$20 million over five years to bring together music therapy and neuroscience
![NIH Director Dr.Francis Collins joined soprano Renee Fleming and Charles Limb,M.D.,the Francis A.Sooy Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at University of California, NIH Director Dr.Francis Collins joined soprano Renee Fleming and Charles Limb,M.D.,the Francis A.Sooy Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at University of California,](https://www.nih.gov/sites/default/files/styles/featured_media_breakpoint-medium/public/news-events/news-releases/2019/20190919-sound-health.jpg?itok=uWAgmFTH×tamp=1568830289)
Investigate the impact of music and singing on the walking ability and gait of people with Parkinson’s disease and older adults,and how these methods influence the brain。 Study how repeated exposure to music—including songs stuck in your head sometimes referred to as earworms—contribute to the creation and consolidation of memories,and how music serves as cue for retrieving associated memories even when memory structures of the brain involved in effor retrieval mory, as in Alzheimer’s disease。 Analyze data from longitudinal studies that define growth curves of brain and behavior from childhood to adulthood to learn how brains are shaped by music and how musical training affects attention,executive function,social/emotional functioning and language skills。 Examine mechanism underlying the effects of music intervention on improving early speech and later language learning for developing infants,specifically those at-risk for speech and language disorders。 Assess the effects of active music interventions on multiple biomarkers to provide a more holistic understanding of how active music interventions work to mitigate cancer-related stress and its potential to improve immune function。 Study musical rhythm synchronization asa mechanism of healthy social development and how that is disrupted in children with autism spectrum disorder,with the goal of developing music interventions for social communication。