Handbook of Neurologic Music Therapy

Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) is a form of music therapy developed for people suffering from cognitive, sensory, or motor dysfunctions - arising from neurological diseases of the nervous system. People who can benefit from this therapy include sufferers from: stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer's disease, autism, and other neurological diseases affecting cognition, movement, and communication (e.g., MS, Muscular Dystrophy, etc).

The Handbook of Neurologic Music Therapy is a comprehensive landmark text presenting a new and revolutionary model of music in rehabilitation, therapy and medicine that is scientifically validated and clinically tested. It presents a field that is practiced by over 4000 NMT certified clinicians in over 70 countries.

In this second edition, the book is fully updated and revised with new research updates in the field and extends the original clinical chapter content.

Michael H. Thaut, Professor, Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto,Volker Hömberg, former Medical Director SRH GBW Bad Wimpfen President, World Federation for Neurorehabilitation (WFNR)

Prof. Michael H. Thaut, is a Professor in the Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He holds a TIER I CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR IN MIUSIC, NEUROSCIENCE, AND HEALTH endowed by the Federal Government of Canada. He received his Master's and PhD in Music from Michigan State University, with a cognate minor in neuroscience. He holds a special diploma in music from the Mozarteum University in Salzburg/Austria. He is an international leader in basic and clinical auditory and music neuroscience, with over 300 scientific publications and is senior editor of the Oxford Handbooks of Music and Brain and Neurologic Music Therapy. Among other appointments he is on the Governing Board of WFNR and an Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine/ UK.


Prof. Volker Hömberg had his medical education at the Universities of Düsseldorf, Freiburg and Boston Massachusetts. His last role was as the Medical Director and Head of Neurology of the Dept. of Neurology at the Gesundheitszentrum Bad Wimpfen and worked as senior neurology advisor for the SRH-Group. He retired from his clinical responsibilities in Sept 2022. He was also the founder, president and vice president of the German Society for Neurorehabilitation for many years. He served as Secretary General for the World Federation of Neurorehabilitation (WFNR) for more than 15 years and was elected President Elect of WFNR in 2020 and took over the presidency in Dec 2022.He is also Vice President of the European Federation of Neurorehabilitation Societies. (EFNR).

1. Neurologic music therapy: from social science to neuroscience, Michael H. Thaut, Gerald C. McIntosh, Volker Hoemberg2. A neurologist's view on neurologic music therapy, Volker Hoemberg3. Music technology for neurologic music therapy, Stefan Mainka, Marijke Groothuis, Carola Werger, Ed Roth4. Clinical improvistation for neurologic music therapy, Nicole Richard, Anna Karpazis, Ed Roth5. Patterned sensory enhancement and constraint induced therapy: a perspective, Crystal Massie6. Assessment and the transformational design model [TDM], Corene P. Thaut, Michael H. Thaut7. Future perspectives on neural mechanisms underlying rhythm and music based neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease, Yuko Koshimori, Michael H. Thaut8. Rhythmic auditory stimulation [RAS], Corene P. Thaut, Ruth Rice9. Patterned sensory enhancement [PSE], Corene P. Thaut10. Therapeutic instrumental music playing [TIMP], Kathrin Mertel11. Melodic intonation therapy [MIT], Michael H. Thaut, Corene P. Thaut, Gerald C. McIntosh, Caitlin Hebb12. Musical speech stimulation [MUSTIM], Corene P. Thaut13. Rhythmic speech cuing [RSC], Stefan Mainka, Grit Mallien14. Oral motor and respiratory exercises [OMREX], Kathrin Mertel15. Vocal intonation therapy, Corene P. Thaut, Charlene Santoni, Darryl Edwards16. Therapeutic singing, Charlene Santoni17. Developmental speech and language training through music [DSLM], Corene P. Thaut, Elizabeth Nightingale18. Symbolic communication training, Corene P. Thaut19. Musical sensory orientation training, Audun Myskja, Jessica Teich20. Auditory perception training [APT], Kathrin Mertel21. Musical attention control training [MACT], Laurine Hakvoort, Cheryl Jones, James C. Gardiner, Michael H. Thaut22. Musical neglect training [MNT], Kyurim Kang, Mutsumi Abiru23. Musical executive function training [MEFT], Shantala Hegde, Michael H. Thaut, James C. Gardiner24. Musical mnemonics training [MMT], Gabriela Echauri, Liliana Gassull, James C. Gardiner, Michael H. Thaut25. Musical echoic memory training [MEM], Michael H. Thaut26. Associative mood and memory training [AMMT], Shannon de L'Etoile, Cheryl Jones27. Music in psychosocial training and counseling [MPC], Corene P. Thaut, Barbara Wheeler