Table 6.
Study procedure with timelines
| RECRUITEMENT & PRE-screening | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Months | Stage | What | Where | Action | Duration |
| MONTH 1–3 | Preparatory phase |
Recruitment of participants (n = ~ 70 in GE; n = ~ 100 in HA, on a total of ~ 500 applications) according to exclusion/exclusion criteria Detailed preparation of Behavioral Battery (psychometric testing) & (f)MRI protocols |
Local journals/ elderly journals/ flyers/presentations HEdS-GE2 & IMMM3 BBL5 / HMS6 |
Announcements (press & flyers) Presentations1/1rst check by telephone Creation of E-prime4 programs; preparation of paper and pencil tests; Synchronization of protocols between MRI scanners in Geneva and Hannover |
|
| Month 4 | Piloting of (f)MRI protocols (N = 20) & Behavioral Battery (N = 10) on non-included elderly individuals | BBL / HEdS-GE / HMS / IMMM | Feasibility testing | ||
| Pre-screening Step 1 | See Table 2 | At home | Send/receive (mail/post) | 60 min. | |
| Month 5–6 | Pre-screening Step 2 (N GE = 63, N HA = 92) |
Check/completion of questionnaires of Step 1 Basic clinical audition test Psychometric tests i. Right-handedness ii. COGTEL |
HEdS-GE/ IMMM | Come to HEdS-GE, IMMM 1x |
20 min. 2 min. 5 min. 15 min. |
| After inclusion in the study | |||||
| Month 7–10 |
Recruitment and training of music teachers Preparing of music education materials |
||||
| t0/baseline |
i. Behavioral Battery (psychometric testing) ii. (f)MRI measurements iii. Blood sampling (by registered nurse) |
HEdS-GE / IMMM BBL / HMS HEdS-GE / IMMM |
Come to HEdS-GE, IMMM 1x Come to BBL, HMS 1x Come to HEdS-GE, HMS 1x |
2.5 h7 1.5 h 10 min. |
|
| Month 10–22 | Interventions |
12 months of 1 h weekly music courses & homework |
HEdS-GE / IMMM At home |
HEdS-GE / IMMM Practice daily at home |
1 h/week 5 × 30 min./week |
| MONTH 16 | t1/ after 6 months of intervention |
i. Behavioral Battery (psychometric testing) ii. (f)MRI measurements iii. Blood sampling |
HEdS-GE / IMMM BBL / HMS HEdS-GE / HMS |
Come to HEdS-GE, IMMS 1x Come to BBL, HMS 1x |
2.5 h 1.5 h 10 min. |
| Month 22 | t2/directly after intervention completion |
i. Behavioral Battery (psychometric testing) ii. COGTEL iii. (f)MRI measurements iv. Blood sampling v. Food Frequency Questionnaire vi. Cognitive reserve index1 (CRIq)8 [116] |
HEdS-GE / IMMM HEdS-GE / IMMM BB / HMS HEdS-GE / HMS At home HEdS-GE / IMMM |
Come to HEdS-GE, IMMM 1x (same session as Behavioral Battery) Come to BBL, HMS 1x Come to HEdS-GE, HMS 1x Send (mail/post) Come to HEdS-GE, IMMM 1x |
2.5 h 15 min. 1.5 h 10 min. 30 min. 15 min. |
| Month 23–26 | Cope with Delays, Analyses & Publications, Congress Attending | ||||
| Month 27 | t3/6 months after intervention completion |
i. Behavioral Battery (psychometric testing) ii. (f)MRI measurements iii. Blood sampling |
HEdS-GE / IMMM BBL / HMS HEdS-GE / HMS |
Come to HEdS-GE, IMMM 1x Come to BBL, HMS 1x Come to HEdS-GE, HMS1x |
2.5 h 1.5 h 10 min. |
| Month 28–36 | Cope with Delays, Analyses & Publications, Congress Attending | ||||
1Presentations at Cité Séniors Genève (http://www.ville-geneve.ch/themes/social/seniors/cite-seniors/); at the HEdS-GE2 and in Hannover at the HMTMH (Hannover University of Music Drama and Media)
2 HEdS-GE Haute école de Genève, 47 av. de Champel 47, 1206 Genève
3 Institute of Music Physiology and Musicians’ Medecine, Hannover, part of the HMTMH
4 Presentation soft-ware (https://pstnet.com/products/e-prime/)
5 Brain and Behaviour Laboratory (BBL, http://bbl.unige.ch/) , University Medical Centre of the University of Geneva
6 Hannover Medical School
7 During the Behavioral Battery several short breaks are included
8 This test has been added posteriorly