Recruiting

Music

Sponsor:

New York University

Code:

NCT07127159

Conditions

Stroke

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 50 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Intentional Music Listening

Audiobook Listening

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study aims to explore whether listening to music intentionally can support the mental health of people recovering from a stroke. The question the investigators aim to answer is: Can intentional music listening improve emotional well-being in stroke survivors? And if so, what kinds of changes might music listening induce in mental health, thinking and memory (cognition), and brain activity? Participants will be randomly assigned to listen to either music or an audiobook for one hour each day, at home, for four weeks. Participants will also attend four in-person sessions with the researchers: at the start of the study (baseline), just before the listening period begins, after the four weeks are complete, and at a follow-up. During these visits, researchers will gather information about participants' mood and mental health (via questionnaires), assess memory and attention (via cognitive tasks), and use MRI scans to look at brain activity.

Conditions

Stroke

Study ID

NCT07127159

Start date

Jul 1, 2025

Status verified date

Aug, 2025

Completion date

Sep 30, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 30, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 50 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants aged 50 to 90
  • Confirmed diagnosis of ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke occurring at least six months prior to enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Significant hearing loss, defined by a score >26 on the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening (HHIE-S; Ventry and Weinstein, 1982)
  • Contraindications for MRI
  • Significant cognitive impairment, defined as a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA; Nasreddine et al., 2005) score below 22 (unless the lower score is attributable to expressive aphasia)
  • Specific musical anhedonia, defined as a score below 60 on the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ; Mas-Herrero et al., 2013)
  • Amusia, defined as a score below 70% on the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA; Peretz et al., 2003).
  • Participants will not be excluded if currently taking medications that may affect brain function (e.g., antidepressants) or if engaged in other complementary therapies (e.g., mindfulness, yoga). Participants will be allowed to initiate new medications or therapies during the study period.

Study Design

Enrollment

60 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Intentional Music Listening

Stroke patients assigned to the Intentional Music Listening group will participate in a 4-week intervention, in which participants will engage in one hour of music listening per day and complete daily self-reports on mood and control measures. Baseline, pre-, and post-intervention evaluations will assess clinical outcomes through behavioral measures of mental health and cognition. Pre- and post-intervention evaluations will also include biomarker assessments (MRI and physiological measures). The follow-up session will assess clinical outcomes only.

active comparator: Audiobook Listening

Stroke patients assigned to the Audiobook Listening group will participate in a 4-week intervention, in which participants will engage in one hour of audiobook listening per day and complete daily self-reports on mood and control measures. Baseline, pre-, and post-intervention evaluations will assess clinical outcomes through behavioral measures of mental health and cognition. Pre- and post-intervention evaluations will also include biomarker assessments (MRI and physiological measures). The follow-up session will assess clinical outcomes only.

Interventions

Intentional Music Listening

Participants will receive an iPad with Spotify (for music listening) and FaceTime. For 4 weeks (excluding weekends; 20 sessions), participants will listen to music for one hour per session, without multitasking (e.g., no chores or cooking), and will be encouraged to listen attentively. The investigators will collaborate with each participant to co-create a personalized playlist composed of self-selected, culturally relevant songs. This playlist can be updated at any time by the participant, either independently or with assistance from the team. During the music-listening session, participants will be on FaceTime with a team member, who will be available to provide support as needed. A custom Python script will continuously track the songs played by participants through Spotify, logging playback activity for research purposes.

Audiobook Listening

Participants will be provided with an iPad equipped with a Spotify (for audiobook listening) and FaceTime. For 4 weeks (excluding weekends; 20 sessions), participants will be asked to listen to an audiobook of their choice for one hour per session, without engaging in other activities such as chores or cooking. Participants will be instructed to listen attentively and avoid multitasking during the session. A team member will connect with each participant via FaceTime to offer support. Participants may update or change their audiobook selections at any time, either independently or with help from the team. A custom Python script will be used to continuously track audiobook playback activity for research and analysis.

Primary outcome measure

  • Burden (Completion of evaluation sessions) [ Time Frame: From baseline to follow-up (3 months post-intervention) ]
  • Burden Ratings [ Time Frame: From baseline to follow-up (3 months post-intervention) ]
  • Patient acceptability [ Time Frame: From beginning to end of the intervention (4 weeks) ]
  • Retention and Adherence [ Time Frame: From beginning to end of the intervention (4 weeks) ]
  • Feasibility Ratings [ Time Frame: From beginning to the end of the intervention (4 weeks) ]
  • Fidelity [ Time Frame: From beginning to the end of the intervention (4 weeks) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Pablo Ripolles, PhD

+ 1212-998-5424pripolles@nyu.edu

Locations

New York University

Recruiting

New York, New York, United States, 10003

Contacts

Pablo Ripolles, PhD

212-998-5424pr82@nyu.edu

Principal Investigator:

Pablo Ripolles, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

New York University

Last update posted

Aug 12, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2025

Keywords

  • intentional music listening
  • music intervention
  • stroke
  • mental health
  • stroke recovery
  • music therapy
  • emotional well-being

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by New York University on 2026-08-12.