This recent research, published in February 2020 in the Journal of Neurotrauma, offers another alternative therapy worthy of consideration and additional research.

While music-based rehabilitation is not one of the therapies the BART Foundation currently advocates for, it is an area worthy of attention and consideration for those with TBI/ABI.

The full abstract, along with links to the original article and other articles exploring the use of music-based rehabilitation, can be found on the pubmed.gov website.

Music Therapy Enhances Executive Functions and Prefrontal Structural Neuroplasticity after Traumatic Brain Injury: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes lifelong cognitive deficits, particularly executive functioning impairments (EF). Musical training and music-based rehabilitation have been shown to enhance cognitive functioning and neuroplasticity, but the potential rehabilitative effects of music in TBI are still largely unknown. This randomized controlled trial aimed to determine the clinical efficacy of music therapy on cognitive functioning in TBI and to explore its neural basis. 

Using an AB/BA design, 40 patients with moderate or severe TBI were randomized to receive a 3-month neurological music therapy intervention either during the first (AB) or second (BA) half of a 6-month period. Neuropsychological and motor testing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed at baseline and the 3-month and 6-month stages. 

Results showed that general EF improved more in the AB group than in the BA group over the first 3-month period, and the effect on EF was maintained in the 6-month follow-up. 

Voxel-based morphometry analysis of the MRI data indicated that gray matter volume in the right inferior frontal gyrus increased significantly in both groups during the intervention versus control period. 

These findings suggest that neurological music therapy enhances EF and induces fine-grained neuroanatomical changes in prefrontal areas.