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= Temporal dynamics of music and language =

Applications in Rehabilitation
Recent studies found that the effect of music in the brain is beneficial to individuals with brain disorders. Stegemöller discusses the underlying principles of music therapy being increased dopamine, neural synchrony and lastly, a clear signal which are important features for normal brain functioning. This combination of effects induces the brain's neuroplasticity which is suggested to increase an individual's potential for learning and adaptation. Existing literature examines the effect of music therapy on those with Parkinson's disease, Huntington's Disease and Dementia among others.

Parkinson's disease
Individuals with Parkinson's disease experience gait and postural disorders caused by decreased dopamine in the brain. One of hallmarks of this disease is shuffling gait, where the individual leans forward while walking and increases his speed progressively, which results in a fall or contact with a wall. Parkinson's patients also have difficulty in changing direction when walking. The principle of increased dopamine in music therapy would therefore ease parkinsonian symptoms. These effects were observed in Ghai's study of various auditory feedback cues wherein patients with Parkinson's disease experience increased walking speed, stride length as well as decreased cadence.

Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease affects a persons movement, cognitive as well as psychiatric functions which severely affects his or her quality of life. Most commonly, patients with Huntington's Disease most commonly experience chorea, lack of impulse control, social withdrawal and apathy. Schwarz et al. conducted a review over the published literature concerning the effects of music and dance therapy to patients with Huntington's disease. The fact that music is able to enhance cognitive and motor abilities for activities other than those of music related ones suggests that music may be beneficial to patients with this disease. Although studies concerning the effects of music on physiologic functions are essentially inconclusive, studies find that music therapy enhances patient participation and long term engagement in therapy which are important in achieving the maximum potential of a patient's abilities.

Dementia
Individuals with Alzeihmer's disease caused by dementia almost always become animated immediately when hearing a familiar song. Särkämo et al discusses the effects of music found through a systemic literature review in those with this disease. Experimental studies on music and dementia find that although higher level auditory functions such as melodic contour perception and auditory analysis are diminished in individuals, they retain their basic auditory awareness involving pitch, timbre and rhythm. Interestingly, music-induced emotions and memories were also found to be preserved even in patients suffering from severe dementia. Studies demonstrate beneficial effects of music on agitation, anxiety and social behaviors and interactions. Cognitive tasks are affected by music as well, such as episodic memory and verbal fluency. Experimental studies on singing for individuals in this population enhanced memory storage, verbal working memory, remote episodic memory and executive functions.