Heady Music

Science Daily reports on custom music made from your brainwaves, a project sponsored by Dept of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate to help emergency response workers achieve "relaxed" states and "alert" states by listening to music composed by algorithmically processing their brain states.

To put it simply:
Your brain makes noise. The project then translates that noise into what we call "music." The researchers are betting that by feeding that music back to you, it will reenact the mental state your brain was in when it first made the noise.

You can listen to a clip of the "Alert" music here.

That's not music!

An intriguing article has just been published in Science Blogs discussing the first time isolated non-western cultures have heard western music. Natives of the Mafa culture were able to correctly distinguish the emotion portrayed by an unfamiliar culture's music. This was consistently done at percentages signifigantly higher than random chance. Of the most interest is the audio clips of the Mafa's traditional music, as compared to the audio clips of the Western music which was played for them.

Take two measures and call me in the morning...

The New York Times reports on Vera Brandes, the director of the research program in music and medicine at the Paracelsus Private Medical University in Salzburg. Vera is taking a very interesting approach to the health benefits of music involving specific playlist prescriptions for her patients. While the article "Musical Pharmacology" doesn't go into too many specifics, (I'd love to see a research paper!) it does cover Vera's general approach.

Worth a quick read on a sunday afternoon.

Music Therapy & Autistic Children

NJ.Com reports about John Foley's music therapy sessions with Autistic children at the Peter Cooper school in NJ. Mr. Foley's work has encouraged children to be communicative (normally nonverbal children making verbal requests for songs) engaged (actively involved in class) and attentive (asking questions about musical instruments that they pass by and recognize in a store.)

The article covers not only some of the specific techniques John uses, but also the parents responses to the noticeably positive changes in the children's behavior. Embeddd also is a video about the students learning to communicate using musical sounds.

Guitar Heroes!

New Scientist discusses research about EEGs of guitarists who played the same tune together at the same time. Several areas of brain activity were found to be perfectly synchronized between the two guitarists during their performances (watch this video for more.)

Brain areas which became synchronized between the two performers involved included those which control and coordinate motor activity, those which allow us to mimic others and, more surprisingly, the areas that recognize other human beings as individuals separate from ourselves.

A Strike against Strokes!

Eckart Altenmuller presents some very wonderful findings on the efficacy of Piano Lessons in helping stroke victims recover fine motor skills!

Note: Link opens a web-based powerpoint presentation (with audio.) Powerpoint not required to view presentation.


Altenmuller's incredibly well designed study showed a drastically positive result for movement ability in stroke victims who were given piano lessons, as compared to both control groups and groups receiving other methods of motor-skill retraining.


This presentation was given at an event sponsored by the Mariani foundation, which included several more enlightening findings, including the benefits of rhythmic auditory training on gait in stroke patients as well as the benefits of singing on language skills in stroke patients (WARNING: Previous link is a PDF.)

More links to follow...

Drum Circles

This week we're featuring Drum Circle Music, an organization that promotes -- no surprise here -- drum circles. Drum circles are a great method for having many people participate in a group musical experience together. After all, as they quote on their page explaining the drum-circle process:


"You never see a group of keyboardists jamming together, and even three guitar players in a room often can't get along, but you can have a group of 20, 30 or even 50 drummers playing together and they'll ask for more to join."

This is Your Brain on Music

Daniel Levitin (author of This Is Your Brain on Music) has a fascinating site for his lab at McGill University. Including, but not limited to, his research, and video and audio news programs on Williams Syndrome, papers on Perfect Pitch, and an archive of all of the videos of the news coverage of his lab's work (great to use to introduce a friend to the deeper intricacies of music's effect on the human spirit.)

Be sure to check out the links page to take a look into other research in the field.

Listen to the Music (Therapy)

Australian Science Podcast All In The Mind has an episode devoted entirely to the therapeutic powers of music. It discusses the work of a trio of Australian Musical Therapists, working in fields as diverse as neonatal care, cancer, and neurodisabilities, all who have found healing power in music.

A worthwhile listen, and if you follow the links at the bottom of the episode page, you will find a few more episodes on music related stories they have run in the past.

Suzanne Hanser, chair of the Music Therapy Department at Berklee , writes a compelling account of her experiences and reflections with Reva, a 14-year-old patient who is most responsive when her world is colored with music. At times succumbing, and at times overcoming labels attached to her by the school system, Music Therapy helps Reva achieve more than the world expects of her.

The article is accessible here, courtesy of FUSION Magazine.

Read anything good lately?

Don't have time to keep up on all the wonderful Music Therapy books these days? The Nordic Journal of Music Therapy has just released 4 new book reviews for Music Therapy related reading, and updates the page semi-regularly when worthwhile reading materials are published.

Have you read any good MT books lately? Post below...

A Few Notes:

The Mindful Music Therapist offers a helpful checklist to make sure you are giving the most to your patients.

WNYC has a radio show on pop music, catchy songs, "earworms," and other auditory curiousities. Includes interviews with Oliver Sack, Diana Deutsch, and Tim Griffiths. Listen here.

Sarsen Publishing is a new, independent publisher, specializing in books, music, and sheet music for music therapists, and music education. They are also open to submissions!

Healthology posted a short video that acts as a introduction to some of the methods of music therapy. Recommended for beginners.

The Senior Gazette has a front-page introductory account about the helping effects of Music Therapy on Alzheimer's.

Heartbeats in 4/4 time...

Newborns have the ability to detect a beat, and what's more, can also detect if the drummer drops the beat.

A new study shows that beat induction may be either innate, or learned in the womb. Infants showed an EEG response to a steady drum beat, and increased activity when the drummer decided to skip a beat.

Wired online has a plain-english version of this story. Or head over to PNAS for the full-text scholarly PDF.

Music Perception & Cognition Conference Announced...

The Society for Music Perception and Cognition announced the dates for their 2009 conference.

The conference itself will be held at Purdue University from August 3-7, 2009, and the deadline for submissions is February 1, 2009. The Society provides a crossroads for scholars focused on music from several angles (Neuroscience, Music Theory, Cognition, Ethnomusicology, etc.)


They have a newsletter as well as a links page full of thought-provoking sites. If anyone is planning on attending or has been to a past conference, please post your thoughts below!

Music Therapy for Music Therapists

UC Magazine has a touching, personal account of Music Therapist Deforia Lane's experience in helping others, and in the effect that Music Therapy had on her during her experience with cancer.


On Music Therapy's effect on others Deforia says: "People will sometimes listen to a song much more easily than they will listen to someone talk. I composed a song and people would listen to that and hear far more than I could say."

On the effect on herself: "Music was a constant reminder that I was more than the disease," she explains, "I was also a musician, a singer, a pianist, a teacher, a mentor. It gave me life beyond breast cancer. My hope was that my doctors saw more than stage 2, type 2 carcinoma."

Sing a Smile...

The Associated Press has a great article (read link here) on Purple Songs Can Fly, a songwriting organization working with one of the US's largest cancer wards to raise the moods of their patients by helping them write and record their own songs.

Anita Kruse, the founder of the organization, is doing a great job demonstrating the power of accessible technology and human creativity to brighten the human spirit. While there is no peer-reviewed research or statistical findings, the story is certainly heart-warming, and I'm sure everyone reading this blog is aware of the power of music to elevate our emotions.

"Purple Songs Can Fly, a one-of-a-kind program at one of the country's largest pediatric cancer care facilities, gives patients a chance to record their own songs in a fully equipped recording studio at the hospital.

...

'That's the most animated I've ever seen her,' Dreyer said later. 'She's been transformed today and that giddiness will sustain her through her chemo session.'"

The World of Music Therapy

Voices : A World Forum for Music Therapy offers a decidedly more anecdotal look into the world of music therapy, through a series of fortnightly articles, as well as a journal. Most of the writers are practicing music therapists themselves, and tell personal stories of how music therapy affects their lives or the lives of those around them, with a focus on multicultural viewpoints from across the globe.

Enjoy!

What is Music Therapy?

Just a quick link to a wonderfully presented Podcast by our friends at The Psych Files, answering the question : "What is Music Therapy?"

Well worth a listen, and I'd also highly recommend many of the other podcasts over at The Psych Files. Michael Britt does a great job of making science accessible, informative, and enjoyable in his podcasts.

Mozart In Effect...

The Mozart Effect is one of the most debated topics in Music Therapy, and Brainblogger is back with a fascinating discussion of three studies related to the effect on modern society of tunes Wolfie composed over 200 years ago!

Included in their article are references to articles about
- The effect of Mozart (versus silence) in helping critically ill patients to relax
- A separate study regarding relaxation and Mozart
- And surprisingly, a Piano Sonata's effect on mice in utero!

A Pregnant Fermata...

Medical News Today discusses a study showing that listening to soothing music 30 minutes a day lowers stress and anxiety (among other benefits) during pregnancy. (Read here)


"The music group showed significant reductions in stress, anxiety and depression after just two weeks, using three established measurement scales"

"Our study shows that listening to suitable music provides a simple, cost-effective and non-invasive way of reducing stress, anxiety and depression during pregnancy. "


I wonder if the same effects can be found in the general public or in people who suffer from depression or anxiety. Maybe doctors will soon be prescribing a half hour of The Drone Zone every night before bed...

The Strokes for Strokes?

Brainblogger offers two separate articles (here and here) on the efficacy of music (versus audiobooks or other stimuli) to improve cognitive abilities in paitents suffering from certain types of strokes.

"At 3 month and 6 month intervals post stroke, the patients were evaluated via cognitive assessment. The results of the assessment showed that the individuals who listened to music demonstrated an obvious increase in verbal skills, memory and focused attention when compared to the audio book and control group. The patients who listened to music also showed a decrease in depression and confused mood."

Probably not what The Strokes had in mind when they formed their band, but it's good to know they're there for us if we need them.

Is Music An Effective Painkiller?

Cognitive Daily reviews a study championing the effectiveness of music for pain relief, click here to read.

Subjects who were able to play music of their choosing were able to withstand painful conditions (hands in ice-water) for a longer time, and with less self-reported discomfort than the control subjects.