Objective: To co-design a questionnaire with people with Parkinson’s disease (PwP) examining how musical groove relates to movement, motivation, and wellbeing in daily life, and identifying factors influencing engagement with music-based movement approaches in PwP.

Background: Parkinson’s disease is heterogeneous and pharmacological treatments often provide incomplete relief and side effects. Music and rhythmic cues can facilitate movement in PwP [1], and musical groove (the pleasurable urge to move to music) is linked to motor and reward system engagement [2]. However, little is known about how PwP might use musical groove to support movement and what barriers limit engagement with music-based movement approaches in daily life.

Method: A participatory action research approach involved 5 PwP co-researchers discussing experiences of music, movement, and daily life with Parkinson’s, informing co-design of a mixed-methods online questionnaire assessing music engagement, movement responses to music, musical expertise, and barriers to participation [3]. The co-designed questionnaire will be distributed through the Parkinson’s UK Research Support Network (N=100-150 PwP) next month.

Results: Co-researchers emphasized the importance of capturing everyday music-driven movement and understanding why some PwP engage with music-based movement approaches while others do not. The questionnaire thus examines whether stronger movement responses to music are associated with greater musical engagement and musical sophistication and identifies factors promoting or discouraging engagement.

Conclusion: Participatory action approaches enable research grounded in the lived experiences of PwP. This exploratory study will provide new insights into how musical groove relates to movement, motivation, and music engagement in Parkinson’s disease, promoting development of accessible music-based movement interventions for daily life.

References: [1] Grahn JA, Brett M. Rhythm and beat perception in motor areas of the brain. J Cogn Neurosci. 2009.
[2] Witek MAG et al. Syncopation, body movement and pleasure in groove music. PLoS One. 2014.
[3] Müllensiefen D et al. The Musicality of Non-Musicians: An Index for Assessing Musical Sophistication in the General Population. PLoS One. 2014.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/using-musical-groove-to-help-people-move-in-parkinsons-a-participatory-action-research-study-of-music-and-movement/