In this video, Caitlin Hebb, MT‑BC, explains how neurologic music therapy supports recovery for people with disorders of consciousness by stimulating arousal, awareness, speech, and movement.
Caitlin describes how music can help elicit early vocalizations, encourage verbal response, and support motor recovery through rhythmic cues. By using predictable rhythm and melody, music therapy helps restore patterns needed for activities like speaking and walking, working closely with speech and physical therapists to reinforce rehabilitation goals.
This video highlights how music serves as a powerful, non‑pharmacologic tool to engage the brain and support recovery after severe brain injury.
Full-screen Title
How does music therapy help a patient with a disorder of consciousness?
With Caitlin Hebb, MT-BC
Lower Third
Caitlin Hebb, MT-BC Music Therapist, MED Rhythms Therapy
Spaulding-Harvard Traumatic Brain Injury Model System
Our program here, we specialize in neurologic music therapy, and it's really about how music impacts the brain and then how it affects non-musical functions like walking and talking. And for disorders of consciousness specifically, we're looking at the arousal and awareness and really using music as more of a stimulus to elicit certain behaviors.
Some of the early memories I have with Hannah was actually in her room when I'm trying to get her to sing. I would pause in certain parts of songs; and the speech therapist and I actually had a bit of a competition going on of who could really get Hannah to say her first words. And so we were using music to really get her voice out and to have her start verbalizing.
The other memory I have is really with the music helping with her walking. We actually worked with her physical therapist to help with her walking and her movement patterns. We have this rhythmic stimulus or this rhythm, this pulse, this kind of steady, predictable pattern. And so when we use that for walking, because walking is intrinsically rhythmic, and then when it's not, you're trying to restore that pattern, so you're giving them a rhythmic cue to walk to. And it was pretty profound in seeing how she could walk to the beat, and we weren't using devices and really trying to work on the consistency of her walking pattern using rhythm predominantly to impact the motor system.
Produced by the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC), this story is part of the Recovering from Disorders of Consciousness Hot Topic Module. The content of this video is based on research and/or professional consensus. This content has been reviewed and approved by experts from the Traumatic Brain Injury Model System (TBIMS) centers, funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, as well as experts from the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers (PRCs), with funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The content of the video has also been reviewed by individuals with TBI and/or their family members.
Disclaimer: This information is not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional. You should consult your health care provider about specific medical concerns or treatment. The contents of this video were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90DPKT0009). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this video do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Copyright © 2026 Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC). May be reproduced and distributed freely with appropriate attribution. Prior permission must be obtained for inclusion in fee-based materials.
About the author: Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC)
The Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC) is a national center operated by the American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) The MSKTC collaborates with Model System researchers to translate health information into easy to understand language and formats for people living with spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and burn injury and those who support them.
