Objective To investigate the effects of music therapy in treating cognitive dysfunction in early stroke patients. Methods Forty patients who had suffered a stroke in the previous four weeks were randomly di-vided into two groups of 20. One received music therapy as part of their cognitive training ( observation group) , and the other did not (control group). Before and after 6 weeks of treatment, cognitive functioning was evaluated using the second Chinese edition of Loewenstein's occupational therapy cognitive assessment (LOTCA). The patients' a-bility in the activities of daily living was also evaluated using the modified Barthel index (MBI). Results After treatment, the total LOTCA and MBI scores in both groups were significantly higher than before. Both LOTCA and MBI scores in the observation group were significantly higher than in the control group, and there were also signifi-cant differences between the observation and control groups on all of the LOTCA sub-items except spatial percep-tion. Conclusions Music therapy can improve the effects of rehabilitation on cognition and the ADL ability of early stroke patients.