Vestibular (V)
Dorothy Yamaguchi, BA (she/her/hers)
Doctoral Candidate
California State University Los Angeles
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Alaina Bassett, AuD, PhD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
California State University, Los Angeles
Cal Sate Los Angeles
Seal Beach, California
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: Editorial Board Member, American Journal of Audiology
Review an article for the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology and Ear and Hearing
Miwako Hisagi, AuD, PhD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
California State University, Los Angeles
California State University, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Peter Ivory, PhD (he/him/his)
AuD Program Director
Cal State LA
California State University, Los Angeles
Alhambra, California
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
The aim of this study was to ascertain lo-fi music’s influence on postural stability to potentially be used for fall prevention and vestibular therapy. This study evaluated the effect of lo-fi hip-hop music on healthy young adults, separated into two groups based on experience, while completing the Sensory Organization Test (SOT). Our results revealed that lo-fi music or previous experience with lo-fi music did not significantly influence the individual equilibrium scores, composite equilibrium scores, or sensory analysis ratios. Further studies are needed to determine the effect of lo-fi music on postural stability, particularly when visual and somatosensory inputs are compromised.
Summary:
Rationale
Recent studies have demonstrated that auditory inputs, such as white noise and music, can improve postural stability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of lo-fi hip-hop music on the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) while maintaining balance with healthy individuals to understand the effect, if any, that lo-fi music may have on postural control. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate whether previous experience with lo-fi music influenced postural stability compared to no previous experience with this genre. The hypothesized outcomes were that postural stability would improve while listening to lo-fi music and that experienced lo-fi listeners would display greater postural stability improvement compared to non-experienced listeners. The result of this study may help to improve the management of patients with disequilibrium/balance issues and to consider the use of lo-fi music for fall-risk prevention.
Methods
Utilizing the Bertec Dynamic Computerized Dynamic Posturography (CDP) platform, the SOT was administered with sixteen healthy young adults. The participants were grouped into experienced and non-experienced lo-fi listeners based on their self-reported average listening time and each participant, regardless of group, performed the six SOT conditions with and without music. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics to describe the participant’s age, average listening time for experienced participants, SOT conditions, SOT composite results, and sensory analysis ratios. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the two independent variables of experienced versus non-experienced and music versus no music conditions for SOT conditions 1 through 6, the composite equilibrium score, and the sensory analysis ratios.
Results
A two-way factor analysis of variance showed a non-significant main effect for music experience or music condition in all conditions and a non-significant interaction between music experience and music conditions in all conditions. Although not statistically significant, a trend was observed in the overall results: in the No Music condition, Group 1 had slightly higher individual and composite scores across all conditions than Group 2, but in the Music condition, Group 2 had slightly higher individual and composite scores in five of the six SOT conditions compared to Group 1. In both the Music and No Music condition, Group 1 had a better performance on SOT 5, when visual and somatosensory information was unreliable, compared to Group 2.
Conclusion
Overall, this study evaluated the relationship between lo-fi hip-hop music, experience with lo-fi music, and balance by assessing postural stability through the SOT with healthy young adults and found no significant effects. While the results of this study revealed no significant improvement to postural stability when listening to lo-fi hip-hop music, it also revealed no significant deterioration to postural stability when listening to lo-fi hip-hop music. The interaction of the auditory and equilibrium systems is an area of developing research. Further research is needed to determine the effect of different genres of music on postural stability and its potential use for vestibular rehabilitation. Moreover, further research with a larger participant population is needed to determine the trend of increased stability observed in SOT 5 with experienced lo-fi listeners.