Acquired brain injury (ABI), including stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and sports-related concussion (SRC), has become one of the major contributors to disability around the world due to cognitive impairments that lead to deficits in memory, attention, executive functions, and quality of life, affecting a great number of patients. Although the problem of cognitive impairments after ABI is gaining more attention, its rehabilitation is still a challenge because there are no standard protocols for personalized music interventions in ABI treatment. The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the available information on the use of personalized music interventions for cognitive rehabilitation in ABI cases, and to examine the neurobiological mechanisms involved. A narrative literature review from 2000 to 2025 is performed using the PubMed database, Google Scholar search engine, and references from articles. It appears that music stimulates the neural networks responsible for emotions, rewards, memories, and self-references, namely, the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, dopaminergic pathways, and default mode network. Moreover, personalized music shows gradual improvement in verbal memory, autobiographical memory recall, attention, executive functions, and affective regulation compared to generic music exposure. Although strong evidence exists for the use of personalized music in stroke and traumatic brain injury, there is still much to explore in sport-related concussion populations. However, there is a strong need for standardization of protocols for personalized music therapy and a clear definition of what personalized music entails. The Music-Induced Autobiographical Retrieval Framework (MARF) framework might prove useful in conducting further clinical studies.
References
[1]
Oberholzer, M. and Müri, R.M. (2019) Neurorehabilitation of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A Clinical Review. Medical Sciences, 7, Article No. 47. https://doi.org/10.3390/medsci7030047
[2]
Alashram, A.R., Annino, G., Padua, E., Romagnoli, C. and Mercuri, N.B. (2019) Cognitive Rehabilitation Post Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review for Emerging Use of Virtual Reality Technology. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 66, 209-219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2019.04.026
[3]
De Luca, R., Calabrò, R.S. and Bramanti, P. (2016) Cognitive Rehabilitation after Severe Acquired Brain Injury: Current Evidence and Future Directions. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 28, 879-898. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2016.1211937
[4]
Magee, W.L., Clark, I., Tamplin, J. and Bradt, J. (2017) Music Interventions for Acquired Brain Injury. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017, CD006787. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd006787.pub3
[5]
Alashram, A.R., Janada, Q., Ghrear, T. and Annino, G. (2023) Role of Music Therapy in Improving Cognitive Function Post-Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 32, 1486-1495. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2023.2228951
[6]
Ferreri, L., Aucouturier, J., Muthalib, M., Bigand, E. and Bugaiska, A. (2013) Music Improves Verbal Memory Encoding While Decreasing Prefrontal Cortex Activity: An fNIRS Study. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7, Article No. 779. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00779
[7]
Galińska, E. (2015) Music Therapy in Neurological Rehabilitation Settings. Psychiatria Polska, 49, 835-846. https://doi.org/10.12740/pp/25557
[8]
Belfi, A.M., Karlan, B. and Tranel, D. (2016) Music Evokes Vivid Autobiographical Memories. Memory, 24, 979-989. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2015.1061012
[9]
Bugos, J.A., Perlstein, W.M., McCrae, C.S., Brophy, T.S. and Bedenbaugh, P.H. (2007) Individualized Piano Instruction Enhances Executive Functioning and Working Memory in Older Adults. Aging & Mental Health, 11, 464-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860601086504
[10]
Carpentier, S.M., Moreno, S. and McIntosh, A.R. (2016) Short-Term Music Training Enhances Complex, Distributed Neural Communication during Music and Linguistic Tasks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 28, 1603-1612. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn_a_00988
[11]
Dikmen, S.S., Corrigan, J.D., Levin, H.S., Machamer, J., Stiers, W. and Weisskopf, M.G. (2009) Cognitive Outcome Following Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 24, 430-438. https://doi.org/10.1097/htr.0b013e3181c133e9
[12]
Froutan, R., Eghbali, M., Hoseini, S.H., Mazloom, S.R., Yekaninejad, M.S. and Boostani, R. (2020) The Effect of Music Therapy on Physiological Parameters of Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Triple-Blind Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 40, Article ID: 101216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101216
[13]
Hegde, S. (2014) Music-Based Cognitive Remediation Therapy for Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury. Frontiers in Neurology, 5, Article No. 34. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2014.00034
[14]
Koelsch, S. (2014) Brain Correlates of Music-Evoked Emotions. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15, 170-180. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3666
[15]
Lynch, C. and LaGasse, A.B. (2016) Training Endogenous Task Shifting Using Music Therapy: A Feasibility Study. Journal of Music Therapy, 53, 279-307. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmt/thw008
[16]
Martínez-Molina, N., Siponkoski, S., Kuusela, L., Laitinen, S., Holma, M., Ahlfors, M., et al. (2021) Resting-State Network Plasticity Induced by Music Therapy after Traumatic Brain Injury. Neural Plasticity, 2021, Article ID: 6682471. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6682471
[17]
Mollica, A., Thaut, M. and Burke, M.J. (2021) Proposing Music-Based Interventions for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms: Current Evidence and Future Directions. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 66, 707-709. https://doi.org/10.1177/07067437211007811
[18]
Moreno, S., Bialystok, E., Barac, R., Schellenberg, E.G., Cepeda, N.J. and Chau, T. (2011) Short-Term Music Training Enhances Verbal Intelligence and Executive Function. Psychological Science, 22, 1425-1433. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797611416999
[19]
Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Rojo, N., Amengual, J.L., Ripollés, P., Altenmüller, E. and Münte, T.F. (2012) The Involvement of Audio-Motor Coupling in the Music-Supported Therapy Applied to Stroke Patients. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1252, 282-293. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06425.x
[20]
Sarkamo, T., Tervaniemi, M., Laitinen, S., Forsblom, A., Soinila, S., Mikkonen, M., et al. (2008) Music Listening Enhances Cognitive Recovery and Mood after Middle Cerebral Artery Stroke. Brain, 131, 866-876. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awn013
[21]
Sihvonen, A., Siponkoski, S., Martínez-Molina, N., Laitinen, S., Holma, M., Ahlfors, M., et al. (2022) Neurological Music Therapy Rebuilds Structural Connectome after Traumatic Brain Injury: Secondary Analysis from a Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11, Article No. 2184. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11082184
[22]
Siponkoski, S., Koskinen, S., Laitinen, S., Holma, M., Ahlfors, M., Jordan-Kilkki, P., et al. (2021) Effects of Neurological Music Therapy on Behavioural and Emotional Recovery after Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Trial. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 32, 1356-1388. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2021.1890138
[23]
Siponkoski, S., Martínez-Molina, N., Kuusela, L., Laitinen, S., Holma, M., Ahlfors, M., et al. (2020) Music Therapy Enhances Executive Functions and Prefrontal Structural Neuroplasticity after Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Neurotrauma, 37, 618-634. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2019.6413
[24]
Stuss, D.T. (2011) Traumatic Brain Injury: Relation to Executive Dysfunction and the Frontal Lobes. Current Opinion in Neurology, 24, 584-589. https://doi.org/10.1097/wco.0b013e32834c7eb9
[25]
Thaut, M.H., Gardiner, J.C., Holmberg, D., Horwitz, J., Kent, L., Andrews, G., et al. (2009) Neurologic Music Therapy Improves Executive Function and Emotional Adjustment in Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1169, 406-416. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04585.x
[26]
Thaut, M.H., Leins, A.K., Rice, R.R., Argstatter, H., Kenyon, G.P., McIntosh, G.C., et al. (2007) Rhythmic Auditor Y Stimulation Improves Gait More than NDT/Bobath Training in Near-Ambulatory Patients Early Poststroke: A Single-Blind, Randomized Trial. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, 21, 455-459. https://doi.org/10.1177/1545968307300523
[27]
Vik, B.M.D., Skeie, G.O. and Specht, K. (2019) Neuroplastic Effects in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury after Music-Supported Therapy. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, Article No. 177. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00177
[28]
Vik, B.M.D., Skeie, G.O., Vikane, E. and Specht, K. (2018) Effects of Music Production on Cortical Plasticity within Cognitive Rehabilitation of Patients with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Brain Injury, 32, 634-643. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2018.1431842
[29]
Autti, T., Silvennoinen, H.M., Salli, E., et al. (2014) Structural Changes Induced by Daily Music Listening in the Recovering Brain after Middle Cerebral Artery Stroke: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article No. 245. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00245
[30]
Yu, M., Song, Y., Song, H., Duan, H. and Zhang, G. (2026) Advances in Music Therapy for Neurological Rehabilitation. Frontiers in Neurology, 17, Article ID: 1821915. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2026.1821915
[31]
Zatorre, R.J. and Salimpoor, V.N. (2013) From Perception to Pleasure: Music and Its Neural Substrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110, 10430-10437. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1301228110
[32]
Baird, A. and Samson, S. (2014) Music Evoked Autobiographical Memory after Severe Acquired Brain Injury: Preliminary Findings from a Case Series. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 24, 125-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602011.2013.858642
[33]
Cramer, S.C., Richards, L.G., Bernhardt, J. and Duncan, P. (2023) Cognitive Deficits after Stroke. Stroke, 54, 5-9. https://doi.org/10.1161/strokeaha.122.041775
[34]
Uomoto, J.M., McGrath, A., Morency, M., Rau, H.K. and Thomas, J. (2025) Music Therapy for Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review. Music Therapy Perspectives, 43, 28-41.
[35]
Smith, R. and Layman, D. (2022) The Use of Preferred Music to Improve the Sleep Quality of a High School Athlete with Post-Concussion Syndrome. Music Therapy Perspectives, 40, 111-113. https://doi.org/10.1093/mtp/miac007
[36]
Broglio, S.P., Kontos, A.P., Levin, H., Schneider, K., Wilde, E.A., Cantu, R.C., et al. (2018) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Department of Defense Sport-Related Concussion Common Data Elements Version 1.0 Recommendations. Journal of Neurotrauma, 35, 2776-2783. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2018.5643
[37]
Thaut, M.H., McIntosh, G.C. and Hoemberg, V. (2015) Neurobiological Foundations of Neurologic Music Therapy: Rhythmic Entrainment and the Motor System. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article No. 1185. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01185
