Cure My Disease

Don't miss your cure!

 Log in / Sign up

Could tuning in to music sharpen aging brains and ears?

NCT ID NCT07772765

Knowledge-focused Sponsor: Northeastern University Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Aug 19, 2026 · Last updated Aug 20, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study tests whether listening to music can improve hearing and cognitive processing in healthy adults aged 60 and older. Participants are randomly assigned to one of four groups, including music listening with or without attentional prompts, and a non-music comparison. Over 20 weeks, researchers measure speech-in-noise ability and attention-related hearing tasks to see if music-based activities offer unique benefits.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
Music listening with or without attentional prompts, compared to non-music based interventions
What this could lead to
If music listening proves effective, it could point toward a simple, enjoyable way to support hearing and cognitive health in older age.
What could go wrong
This is an early-stage study, and results may not show a clear benefit. Outcomes depend on participants' engagement and may not generalize beyond this group.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 216 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Expected to start

Aug 2026

An estimate. Start dates often move.

Expected to finish

Aug 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

60 to 101 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age: 60+ * No self-reported auditory difficulties and normal or near-normal hearing sensitivity as measured by SRTs. * Should have no more than typical hearing loss for their age and no evidence of dementia. * Fluent in English and/or Spanish * No more than two years of formal music training in childhood OR in the past 20 years Exclusion Criteria: * Abnormal vision or hearing prohibitive of training * History of seizures, focal brain lesion, or head injury with loss of consciousness * Physical handicap (motor or perceptual) that would impede training procedures * Social, educational or economic hardship prohibitive to training schedule Concurrent enrollment in other cognitive training studies * History of major psychiatric illness, including psychosis, bipolar disorder, depression, alcohol or substance abuse, recent bereavement * Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15) score of 6 or higher, indicating clinically significant depressive symptoms * Not being proficient enough in English or Spanish that would prevent following and understanding all instructions and completing all testing sessions * Diagnosis of dementia or other neurological disease, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) * Telephone-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (t-MoCA) score of 16 or less

Get updates

Get notified about this study

Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Attention are added.

Our safety recommendation!

By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use

Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

auditory perceptual disorders

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Attention Auditory processing Music listening

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Northeastern University

    RECRUITING

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

More trials for these conditions

Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.