Ridder Hanne Mette, Anderson-Ingstrup Jens, Ridder Lukas Ochsner
Department of Communication and Psychology, Aalborg University, Denmark.
Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Dementia (London). 2025 May;24(4):631-646. doi: 10.1177/14713012241272910. Epub 2024 Aug 12.
With an understanding of dementia through the lens of embodied cognition and a musical sense of the dynamics of the body, a fundamental continuity of personhood is possible. With music and singing, body and mind are positively affected for persons with dementia, and with promising evidence on emotional wellbeing during choir-singing. Based on this, we carried out a pilot-study to explore the effect of choir-singing on self-reported embodied cognition in persons with dementia. As part of a Danish TV documentary on choir-singing, 17 participants with a mean age of 71 years took part in choir rehearsals and a concert. The majority of the participants had moderate/severe dementia, and 29% mild dementia. Altogether 164 self-report forms were analysed and showed a highly significant increase in embodied cognition from before to after choir-singing. The results provide initial evidence that choir-singing for persons with dementia positively influence the participants' self-reported embodied cognition. Further, the positive effect seemed to increase in line with increasing level of dementia. The 8-item Embodied Cognition in Dementia Assessment Scales (EmDAS) showed good internal reliability and promising properties for evaluating the effect of embodied cognition. For future research, controlled trials with larger samples are needed to provide evidence of choir-singing for persons in various stages of dementia.
通过具身认知的视角以及对身体动态的音乐感知来理解痴呆症，人格的基本连续性是有可能实现的。对于患有痴呆症的人来说，音乐和歌唱对他们的身心有积极影响，而且有关于合唱时情绪健康的有力证据。基于此，我们开展了一项试点研究，以探讨合唱对痴呆症患者自我报告的具身认知的影响。作为丹麦一档关于合唱的电视纪录片的一部分，17名平均年龄为71岁的参与者参加了合唱排练和一场音乐会。大多数参与者患有中度/重度痴呆症，29%患有轻度痴呆症。总共分析了164份自我报告表格，结果显示合唱前后具身认知有极显著的增加。这些结果提供了初步证据，表明为痴呆症患者安排合唱对参与者自我报告的具身认知有积极影响。此外，积极效果似乎随着痴呆症程度的增加而增强。8项痴呆症具身认知评估量表（EmDAS）在评估具身认知的效果方面显示出良好的内部信度和前景。对于未来的研究，需要进行更大样本的对照试验，以提供合唱对处于不同痴呆阶段的人的影响的证据。
