Wartburg

Dear Friend of IMNF: Can music change the brain? Promote health? We are at an exciting crossroad. IMNF was established in 1995 to bridge the fields of neuroscience and music therapy and to increase dialogues across these disciplines to promote the efficacy of music-based interventions for those with a wide array of neurologic challenges. In the early 1980s, working alongside co-founder and renowned author Dr. Oliver Sacks, I knew that music was providing structure and arousal to allow improved function in our patients – but why? In our search for answers and through the help of generous donors, IMNF sponsored basic music perception studies and international symposia and began to identify clinical protocols for music therapy applications in stroke and dementia care. In our first 25 years, we have trained over 250 music therapists, presented at close to 1,000 conferences and have reached millions through media coverage. The field of neuroscience and music perception has grown tremendously over these years, and now we know that music does have positive effects on so many aspects of brain development and health. For this reason – and with your support – we want to bring our knowledge and expertise to impact healthy aging – from brain development in young children to prevention of falls in seniors. We believe that creative, nonverbal expression can help build emotional resilience and executive function in young children with language delays and behavioral issues. We know that active music engagement can help seniors maintain short-term memory function and improve balance and general mobility. We also know that music therapy can have an enormous impact on those with brain injuries by helping restore function and improve quality of life. We will expand our research partnerships to advance these efforts and share our knowledge through best practice trainings. Thank you for sharing this journey with us and for helping us help others through the Power of Music. Concetta M. Tomaino, DA, LCAT, MT-BC Executive Director, Co-founder IMNF VISION 2025 3 | I M N F V I S I O N 2 0 2 5

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