Embedded Files
4/22/2025: Harmony and Healing: Celebrating Music, Mind and Memory in Evanston. Dr. Bonakdarpour and Jeffrey Wolfe Neurologic Music Therapist presented groundbreaking research on the therapeutic power of music for patients, families and caregivers, followed by remarks from Renée Fleming, world-renowned soprano and advocate for art and health. Musicians from the Institute for Therapy through the Arts' Musical Bridges and Memory program performed afterward.
4/6/2025: Lecture and Performance at AAN 2025 in San Diego.
During the 77th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), Clara Takarabe and Dr. Bonakdarpour presented Brain Health Moment: Restorative Music Session, a presentation on the lab's research on restorative music followed by music and yoga for the attendees.
2/15/2025: Musical Museum 11 on the South Side: Sweet Home Chicago.
The 11th iteration of Northwestern Music and Medicine's Musical Museum series was held in the Timothy Community Center on the South Side and performed by the Southside Jazz Coalition. In honor of Black History Month, the program featured local Black artists as a celebration of Chicago jazz culture. Often times the audience joined in on the singing, creating for an especially lively atmosphere.
2/2025: NMMP lab staff teach Music and Medicine seminar to Feinberg students.
Dr. Bonakdarpour, Clara Takarabe and Melanie Zhang have just started teaching “Music and Medicine”, a five-week course on the therapeutic applications of music in neurology. Nine first-year medical students are currently enrolled in the class, which fulfills their program’s humanities requirement. In the first week, Among other topics, the course will cover music-based interventions for dementia and aphasia, a research focus of the Bonakdarpour lab.
12/10/2024: Northwestern Music and Medicine Program holds its 10th Musical Museum concert.
On December 10, Dr. Bonakdarpour hosted the 10th session of his Musical Museum concert series, which is designed to provide intellectual stimulation and social connection for those with mild to moderate neurocognitive disorders (dementias). Dr. Bonakdarpour and operatic soprano Dominika Zamara performed selections from classic Polish and Italian operas for an audience of over 40 patients, caretakers and guests. The event was featured on NBC 5 Chicago as well as Italian media.
11/15/2024: Musical Museum in Door County, Wisconsin. Alongside the Griffon String Quartet and Third Avenue PlayWorks, Clara Takarabe, a violist and clinical music researcher at Northwestern Music and Medicine Program recently hosted two Musical Museum programs in Door County, Wisconsin: November 13 at Third Avenue PlayWorks in Sturgeon Bay and November 14 at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek. Designed for individuals with mild to moderate dementia and their caregivers, the events provided a safe and engaging space for live music, intellectual stimulation, and social connection. Funded in part by the Little Eddie Big Cup Mental Health Awareness Fund of the Door County Community Foundation, the programs highlighted the healing power of music while fostering a sense of community among those facing memory loss. Featuring the Griffon String Quartet’s vibrant performances and thoughtful discussions, the series underscored the therapeutic potential of music to enhance quality of life and brought immense joy and connection to attendees. Click here for the full press release.
10/14/2024: CogNEd (Cognitive Neurology Education) App released. The App was developed in collaboration with NBJ Solutions and provides a simple interface to access educational material for Fellows, Residents, Medical Students and member of the LINC laboratory. To download press either of the buttons bellow.
9/2024: NMMP presents at the 149th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association (ANA). Kate Vidano presented the preliminary results of the Clinical Improvisatory Music for Alzheimer’s and Caregivers (CIMAC) trial, which showed the promising effects of clinically designed improvisatory music (CDIM) on patients with neurocognitive disorders and their care partners. Clara Takarabe also performed restorative music for attendees.
7/2024: NMMP at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia in July, 2024.
In alignment with the theme of “Dementia Care Practice,” Dr. Bonakdarpour showcased results from NMMP’s collaboration with Sounds Good Choir on Group Singing Programs for the Well-being of Older Adults. NMMP has been collaborating with Sounds Good Choir for more than 2 years. Results from their research underlines emotional, social, and intellectual benefits of group singing for older adults and individuals with dementia.
5/3/2024: Laboratory for Interventions and Neuroimaging of Cognition (LINC) and Northwestern Music and Medicine Program (NMMP) present at the 35th Annual Alzheimer's Day Conference
4/13-4/18/24: Updates from the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in Denver
3/2/2024 Northwestern Professors Hold a Panel on Music and Medicine in Phoenix
3/1/2024 Borna Bonakdarpour delivered a grand rounds lecture at the University of Arizona for the Department of Neurology titled Melodic Remedies: Music-based interventions for Neurologic disorders.
1/19/2024 NMMP presented their research to the Chicago Children's Advocacy Center. The two-and-a-half-hour long presentation, demonstration, and discussion explored ways that clinical music could be integrated into therapy targeting child abuse.
12/23/2023 Borna Bonakdarpour spoke about the Musical Bridges to Memory study and potential future implications. Published in 2022, the “Musical Bridges to Memory” intervention, a collaboration between Northwestern Medicine and the Institute for Therapy through the Arts, revealed the power of music in connecting with individuals suffering from dementia, particularly in the later stages.
10/31/2023 Announcing the launch of NMMP (Northwestern Music and Medicine Program) Mobile App for both Apple and Android devices. The App was developed in collaboration with NBJ Solutions and has a very simple interface to obtain updates on our programs and news. To download press either of the buttons bellow.
NMMP Mobile
10/23/2023 First participant in the CIMAC study starts the intervention with the pre-CDIM MRI.
10/4/2023 The tDCS team starts enrolling participants with the diagnosis of Aphasic Dementia for trial of 4 week intervention for treamtent of anomia and impaired sentence production.
Jordan Behn, Project Engineer and Senior Investigator
9/1/2023 Our paper on the effect of calming improvisatory music in individuals in admitted in the epilepsy monitoring unit was published. Click on the left picture for the article and on the right picture for the press release feature and listen to a sample music.
7/18/23 and 7/19/23 Mesulam Center had a strong presence at the Alzheier's Association International Conference in Amsterdam: We shared results from many projects related to Primary Progressive Aphasia (featured in Dr. Marsel Mesulam's Plenary speech , Good Memory Choir (poster), and Alzheimer's biomarkers and their relevance for neuropsychiatric symptoms.
5/18/23: Northwestern Music and Medicine Program presented at the
Northwestern IPHAM/Osher Seminar Series
5/11/23: LINC and NMMP present at the Annual Alzheimer's Day
Laboratory for Interventions and Neuroimaging of Cognition (LINC) and Northwestern Music and Medicine Program presented 9 abstracts and exhibited the NMMP activities at the Annual AD Day at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Abstracts can be viewed below:
AD Day 2023- Abstract Book.pdf
4/24 and 4/25/23: Updates from American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Boston
Borna Bonakdarpour and Clara Takarabe presented Northwestern Music and Medicine and NM Well-being project results at the Practice, Policy, and Ethics session.
With Drs. Kate Carroll and Stephen VanHaerents at the tranees meet and greet.
Invited talk on Music and Neurology
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