How using groove and the Bee Gee’s can improve your walking with Parkinson’s
“Groove” is considered the experience of wanting to move when hearing music. Check out our newest facebook video about getting your groove on with the Bee Gee’s to help walking with Parkinson’s.
Listening to music while you walk if you have Parkinson’s disease can in some cases help your symptoms. The Bee Gee’s and other bands may help you to get your groove.
Drs Sowalsky, Park and Hass at the University of Florida Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases have studied these effects in a series of recent papers.
The authors found that:
- Music cues resulted in acute improvements of stride and arm swing amplitude but not stride-to-stride variability
- Enhanced familiarity with music improved stride amplitude and variability along with increased enjoyment . https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33895635/
- Musical pleasure contributes to an improvement of stride and arm swing size in people with PD, independent of perceived familiarity with music, cognitive demands of music listening, and beat salience. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33232856/
- Kristen Sowalsky in the Hass laboratory showed that using a song like the 1977 hit by the Bee Gee’s, Stayin’ Alive actually improved walking more than a metronone. https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/05/09/81/00001/SOWALSKY_K.pdf
Kristen wrote, “Our chosen piece of music may be classified as high-groove music, as “groove” is considered the experience of wanting to move when hearing music, often found in music intended for dancing. Stayin’ Alive, by the Bee Gees, was selected due to its popularity with the particular generation of our population. It was released during the disco era in the 1970s during which dancing became a favorite leisure activity. As music familiarity and enjoyment may also have a role in eliciting gait, it is likely that this played a role.”
Ok folks, time to get your groove on.
