Inspiring Minds seeks to broaden awareness and impact of graduate student research, while enhancing transferable skills. Students were challenged to describe their research, scholarship or creative activity in 150 or fewer words to share with our community.

Can we improve walking abilities with music and brain stimulation?

How we walk, or our gait patterns, can impact our physical and mental health, as well as our social well being. Aging and diseases can negatively affect gait, but external cues like music might help improve these deficits. During my PhD studies, I explored how non-invasive brain stimulation targeting a motor region linked to gait initiation and rhythm perception could enhance the benefits of musical cues on walking. Initial results with young, healthy adults showed that when participants synchronized their steps to the beat of the music while walking with brain stimulation, their steps per minute increased. The next step in my studies is to test these effects in older adults and people with Parkinson's disease. With the incidence of parkinsonism in Canada expected to rise by 50% between 2011 and 2031, this research could lead to new rehabilitation programs combining brain stimulation and music, especially for aging and disease-affected populations.

Marina Emerick
PhD candidate, Neuroscience
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry - Western University

Supervisor
Jessica Grahn (https://www.uwo.ca/bmi/investigators/jessica-grahn.html)

Marina Emerick is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at Western University, where she also completed her Master of Science in Neuroscience with a specialization in music cognition. She holds bachelor's degrees in Science and Technology and in Neuroscience from the Federal University of ABC in her home country, Brazil. Marina's research interests include the use of non-invasive brain stimulation to target brain regions involved in rhythm perception and the use of music as an auditory cue during walking, focusing on how this might help the Parkinson's disease population. Beyond her academic pursuits, Marina is passionate about everything related to music. She is fascinated by the power of music to create bonds between people. She began her musical journey by learning to play the guitar before switching to the bass. She is a vinyl collector and loves attending concerts with family and friends.

You can connect with Marina on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/marinaemerick/ or via email at mdeoliv4@uwo.ca.

View Marina's work as it appears in the Inspiring Minds Digital Collection: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/inspiringminds/632/.