An interventional study of Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music and Listening to Storytelling in Alzheimer's Disease, sponsored by Northwestern University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 55 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-20.
Sponsored by Northwestern University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Among 16 studies in Alzheimer Disease by Northwestern University — 5 open to participants now, 6 under way, none of them phase 3. Alzheimer Disease · Northwestern University.
Among the 16 studies in Alzheimer Disease by Northwestern University, this one is the 12th largest by planned enrollment of the 15 interventional ones that give a count, is one of 3 that started in 2026, is one of 14 with no phase, and was the 15th registered.
3,967 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 928 are open to participants now.
Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →5 of the 16 studies in Alzheimer Disease by Northwestern University are open now, in 1 country. Recruiting first, the newest first:
Northwestern University · Sites in United States
Ages 60–90
Northwestern University · Sites in United States
Ages 55–100 · Healthy volunteers
Northwestern University · Sites in United States
Ages 18+ · Healthy volunteers
Northwestern University · Sites in United States
Ages 21+ · Healthy volunteers
By country, each count listing its studies:
Of the 642 Alzheimer Disease studies recruiting now, 283 (44%) set no upper age limit and 55 (9%) stop at 75 or younger; 34 take children under 18; 284 take healthy volunteers.
This study: 55 Years and older · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.
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16 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.
First in 2015; this study’s year is marked. 3 started in 2026.
This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 70 across 3,020 interventional studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.
Median enrollment 105 across the 15 interventional studies, 0 across the 1 observational. Of the 8 that completed or were terminated, 7 (88%) have results posted.
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Northwestern University is the lead sponsor of 1,424 studies on the registry; 199 are open to participants now.
Of its 105 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 78 (74%) have results posted.
4 of the studies in Alzheimer Disease by Northwestern University that are under way reach primary completion within a year, 0 of them phase 3. Phase 3 first, then by date:
| Study | Primary completion |
|---|---|
| NCT07775625Northwestern UniversityCentral Auditory Processing Modulation Underlying Anxiety Reduction Using Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music | 2026-12-15 |
| NCT05477862Northwestern UniversityNeural Mechanisms of Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music for Alzheimer's Disease | 2026-12-15 |
| NCT06112860Northwestern UniversityOTC Hearing Aid and MCI | 2026-12-31 |
| NCT05607732Northwestern UniversityPrimary Care Detection of Cognitive Impairment Leveraging Health & Consumer Technologies in Underserved Communities: The MyCog Trial | 2027-04-30 |
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Among the 16 studies in Alzheimer Disease by Northwestern University, from their registry updates:
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This study examines whether Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music (CDIM) can reduce anxiety in people living with Alzheimer's disease and anxiety (AD-A), and whether it can also lessen caregiver burden. CDIM is a live, receptive music-based intervention that uses slow tempi, simple diatonic melodic lines, soft dynamics, and periodic pauses to promote relaxation. As described in the proposal, CDIM has previously been shown to reduce stress and improve physiological markers such as heart rate, blood pressure, and EEG alpha/beta ratios (CDIM significantly decreased physical stress symptoms and patients also reported positive emotional outcomes and EEG readings showed increased alpha/beta brainwave ratios ).
The study will enroll 30 dyads (individuals with AD-A and their caregivers). Dyads will be randomly assigned to either CDIM or a control intervention (CI) consisting of calming short stories read aloud. Both interventions include eight 30-minute sessions over four weeks, delivered in alternating in-person and virtual formats.
The primary goal is to determine whether CDIM is feasible and effective in reducing anxiety in individuals with AD-A, measured by the Rating Anxiety in Dementia (RAID) scale, and in reducing caregiver burden, measured by the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). The study also evaluates changes in heart rate and blood pressure as indicators of autonomic regulation.
A second goal is to explore whether CDIM improves central auditory processing, assessed using the frequency-following response (FFR). The proposal notes that central auditory processing declines with age and dementia and may contribute to anxiety. FFR will be measured before and after the intervention to determine whether CDIM enhances neural timing and response magnitude.
Overall, this pilot study aims to determine whether CDIM is a feasible, safe, and potentially effective non-pharmacological intervention for reducing anxiety in individuals with AD-A and decreasing caregiver burden, while also investigating its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
MMSE and MoCA
Short tests of memory and thinking, each scored out of 30. Lower scores suggest more difficulty; criteria give a range, either to include people with memory problems or to leave them out.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Other: Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music
Other: Listening to Storytelling
Clinically Designed Improvisatory Music (CDIM) is live, slow-tempo, diatonic improvisation played with soft dynamics and periodic pauses. It uses meterless melodic lines, vocal-range pitches, and gentle harmonic intervals to promote neural entrainment, parasympathetic activation, and anxiety reduction in listeners.
Participants will listen to calming short stories within 30 minutes.
Rating Anxiety in Dementia (RAID)
RAID is a structured clinical scale measuring anxiety in dementia. It will be evaluated 3 times, 4 weeks apart.
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks.
Frequency Following Response (FFR)
FFR is a scalp-recorded neural measure capturing precise subcortical encoding of sound timing, frequency, and speech acoustics.
Time frame: It will be evaluated at baseline and up to a week after intervention.
Heart rate
Heart rate per minute
Time frame: Measured at baseline up to a week after intervention.
Blood pressure
Blood pressure measured using a blood pressure machine.
Time frame: Measured at baseline up to a week after intervention.
Respiratory Rate
Number of respirations per minutes.
Time frame: Measured at baseline and up to a week after intervention.
Plan to share: No
Started Feb 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2026, 10 months after the start.
Of 882 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Alzheimer Disease, half reached primary completion within 30 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 51. This study's planned 10 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 959 studies reached it within 29 months; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 51.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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