SingWell is pleased to announce our 2025 funded research projects—a strong set of studies building understanding at the intersection of group singing, communication and wellbeing. These projects explore outcomes across key domains of mental, physical and social wellbeing for individuals with communication challenges related to Parkinson’s disease, COPD, multiple sclerosis, and aging.
Each of these five funded studies—led by Alexander Ng, Anna Zumbansen, Jennifer Bugos (South Florida), Maxime Perron, and Pascale Tremblay— demonstrates both scientific merit and a commitment to building understanding of how singing can meaningfully improve the lives of people living with communication challenges.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurologic disease of autoimmune origin that can lead to disabling physical and psycho-social function. Canada has one of the highest prevalences in the world, with 1 in 400 adults having MS. Our proposed study intends to look at how group singing affects psychological and physiological function, and social well-being of people with MS (PwMS) with compromised speech, voice, or respiratory function. We intend to collect pre- and post- data from self-report surveys (e.g., Quality of Life (QoL)); as well as physical measures that examine autonomic nervous system function (heart rate variability), respiratory, and speech/phonatory function as measured with physiological instrumentation. Heart rate variability will provide psycho-biological insight into long term, as opposed to single session, effects of a group singing intervention.
Singing is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for the rehabilitation of communication disorders, not least because of the anatomical and neurological underpinnings it shares with speech. This study aims to make an innovative contribution to knowledge about the benefits of group singing for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). PD is a neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people worldwide, 70-90% of whom suffer from voice and speech disorders, often resulting in social isolation and reduced quality of life. This study uses a robust single-case experimental design to test the effects of group singing on voice and speech as well as psychosocial dimensions in participants with PD. It incorporates state-of-the-art acoustic speech analysis and high-speed video-laryngoscopy to assess changes in speech and laryngeal function. The results will advance evidence-based practice and highlight how singing can improve communication and quality of life for people with PD.
The goal of this project is to measure the effects of circle singing on respiration and cognitive function in adults with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as compared to an attentional control task. Circle singing refers to a communal choral singing practice where a group of people form a circle and create music together through improvisation, with a leader often guiding the group by assigning parts and melodies on the spot. Melodies inspired for this research will focus upon world music. The primary outcomes of this study will be Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1)/Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) ratio, neurophysiological measures (neural oscillations on inhibitory control), and psychosocial measures of mood, quality of life, loneliness, social connectedness, and self-efficacy. We hypothesize that choral singing will improve respiration measured by spirometry and increase theta associated with memory performance as measured by neural oscillations when compared to controls.
As we age, changes in heart and lung function can affect blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain, which are essential for cognitive function. In some cases, these changes contribute to mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition that increases the risk of dementia. Research suggests that maintaining heart and lung function supports brain health. Singing, which engages deep breathing and vocalization, has emerged as a promising approach to enhance these functions. This study examines singing’s influence on breathing, heart rate, and brain oxygenation in older adults with and without MCI. Participants will complete cognitive tasks before and after singing aloud or lip-syncing (control activity). We will measure changes in heart rate, breathing patterns, and brain oxygenation. We hypothesize that singing aloud will lead to immediate improvements in these physiological functions, which may support cognitive performance. These findings will inform a future study exploring these effects in group singing contexts.
This randomized controlled study explores the impact of group singing on communication, wellbeing, and brain health in community-dwelling older adults, with a focus on underlying mechanisms. Participants will be assigned to one of three groups: group-singing, audiobook listening, or passive control. Those in the singing and listening groups will take part in weekly 150-minute sessions for 16 weeks.
The study will measure:
This research is partially funded (NSERC, CRC), but additional support will help us explore the biological and social effects of singing in greater depth. By tracking changes over time and comparing groups, we aim to uncover how singing supports communication and well-being in older adults.
Ⓒ 2020-2025, The SingWell Project