ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Translational Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1569601
This article is part of the Research TopicMusic and Medicine: From Basic Science to Clinical PracticeView all 8 articles
Group Singing and its Effect on Cortisol, Alpha Amylase, Oxytocin and Pain Threshold in PD Patients
Provisionally accepted
- Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
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Background: 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 vocal challenges related to PD. However, no work has been done to inform a neurochemical mechanism of action on pain threshold. Here we examine whether group singing's effects on cortisol, alpha amylase, and oxytocin are associated with changes in pain thresholds in PD patients.Methods: Participants with PD (n = 14) took part in a 12-week singing program involving weekly 45-minute group singing sessions in the early afternoon. Data collection involving saliva samples and pain thresholds were taken pre-post session in the 2 nd (session #1), seventh (session #2) and 12 th (session #3) week of the program. Saliva samples were taken before and after each session via the passive drool method. Pain threshold was assessed before and after each session through pressure applied to the finger using a dolorimeter. Saliva samples were used to assess salivary cortisol (sCORT), alpha amylase (sAA), and oxytocin (sOXT). Pain threshold, sCORT, sAA and sOXT change scores were calculated for each session by subtracting the pre-session value from the post-session value.Results: Three mixed linear model analyses were completed to assess whether sCORT, sAA and sOXT were associated with pain threshold increases. We found that group singing led to a significant sCORT and sAA reduction. We also found that reductions in sCORT were significantly related to pain threshold increases (p < 0.05). However, we did not observe any relation between pain threshold increases and sAA or any relation between pain threshold and sOXT.
Keywords: group singing, Parkinson ' s disease, cortisol, alpha amylase, Oxytocin, Pain
Received: 10 Feb 2025; Accepted: 15 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Mallik, Raessi, Good, Pachete and Russo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Adiel Mallik, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
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