Adiel Mallik, PhD • Tara Raessi, MA • Arla Good, PhD • Alex Pachete • Frank A. Russo, PhD | Toronto Metropolitan University
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes motor
deficits including rigidity and tremors. Pain is also a common problem for people with PD that may arise from their dopamine deficit. Some PD patients find temporary relief from pain through group singing, which also has been shown to mitigate voice challenges related to PD. However, no work has been done to identify what specific neurochemical mechanism(s) contribute to group singing’s effect on pain threshold. This study examined whether group singing’s effects on cortisol and oxytocin contribute to pain relief in PD patients.
Participants with PD (n = 12) came in for two 45-minute group singing sessions in the
evening. Saliva samples were taken before and after each singing session via the passive drool method. Pain threshold was assessed before and after each singing session through pressure applied to the finger using a dolorimeter. Saliva samples were used to assess salivary cortisol and oxytocin. Pain threshold, cortisol and oxytocin change scores were calculated for each session by subtracting the pre-session value from the post-session value.
Two mixed linear model analyses were done to assess whether cortisol and oxytocin
contributed to pain threshold increases. We found that group singing leads to a significant cortisol reduction, which significantly increases pain threshold. However, we did not see the same result for oxytocin. This study therefore demonstrates that group singing significantly increases pain threshold, and that this may be facilitated by a reduction in cortisol in PD patients.
Manuscript summary is forthcoming in the Music and Medicine Topic Issue of Frontiers in Neuroscience.
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