Tune Den — a music app to help people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and their caregivers
Official title: Developing a therapeutic, music-based mobile application to combat neuropsychiatric symptoms in people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias
Funded at Autotune Me LLC · NIH-11196744 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will create Tune Den, a music app that uses heart rate and movement signals to help people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias and their family caregivers reduce agitation and improve mood.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Autotune Me LLC NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Brooklyn, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | September 24, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $223,070 |
| NIH project number | 5R41AT012152-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11196744 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias who experience agitation or mood symptoms, have a willing family caregiver, and can use a smartphone and a wearable device.
✕Less likely to help
People without access to a smartphone or compatible wearable, those with profound hearing loss that prevents enjoyment of music, or those whose symptoms do not respond to music may not receive benefit.
What this research studies
If I live with Alzheimer’s or care for someone who does, this app would play personalized songs and adjust tempo and melody based on a wearable’s heart rate and movement to help calm agitation and boost mood. The app learns which songs work best by tracking heart-rate and activity responses and noting each person’s preferred music. Caregivers can use Tune Den at home to deliver these music sessions without needing institutional support. The aim is to increase relaxation and gentle activity and to reduce behaviors that sometimes lead to medication changes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, Tune Den could reduce agitation and depressive symptoms, increase activity and mood stability, and help delay or reduce the need for some medications.
How similar studies have gone: Other music-based interventions have reduced agitation and depression in dementia, but a personalized app that responds to heart rate and movement is a newer, less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Autotune Me LLC
Brooklyn, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ray, Kendra — Autotune Me LLC
- Study coordinator: Ray, Kendra
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Understanding how brain activity changes may drive Alzheimer’s disease progression in a mouse model
Researchers are testing how changes in brain signals and protein cleanup processes affect the development of Alzheimer’s disease in mice.
-
Thiamine-boosting therapy for Alzheimer’s: understanding how benfotiamine may reduce harmful AGE in DP patients
A medication-based approach using high-dose vitamin B1 (benfotiamine) is studied to help people with Alzheimer's by reducing harmful sugar-related molecules.
-
Non-invasive tears biomarker for early Alzheimer's in LMICs
A low-cost, tear-based biomarker approach aims to detect early Alzheimer’s disease in older adults in Peru and similar settings.
-
Turning APOE4 into protective APOE2 or APOE3Christchurch to help with Alzheimer’s
A patient-facing explanation of a treatment idea that aims to change a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease in the brain.
-
Telomerase in Alzheimer’s Disease: how aging biology could influence memory and brain health
Researchers are exploring a new brain-aging mechanism linked to telomerase, with potential to slow or modify Alzheimer’s disease in people and improve cognitive function.
-
Biomarkers of Alzheimer’s Disease: Sensory, Motor, and Cognitive Clues
Researchers are testing simple sensory and movement tasks to find early signs of Alzheimer’s disease so they can diagnose and treat people sooner.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.