The descriptions of musical examples do not meet the requirements of a proper phenomenological
investigation, but represent a preliminary attempt at phenomenological description. However, the
concept of a musical timespace is supported by reports of the experienced musical space in phe-
nomenology.
Findings in hearing research support the basic presuppositions in The Musical Timespace that
hearing is not designed for music listening, but for survival in the surrounding world, and that the
identification and localization of sounds and the detection of movement are the essential functions of
hearing.
The concise version of The Musical Timespace consists of excerpts, and does not represent a thor-
oughly reworked new edition of the original text. The definitions of the secondary listening dimen-
sions melody and rhythm need further clarification and underpinning by musical examples, and the
concept of musical memory needs updating from current research in neuroscience.
Chapter 5. Present Moments: A new GIM program
The result of the project described in chapter five is the design of a new program for Guided Imagery
and Music Therapy based on art music from the 20th and 21st Centuries. A collaborative research
process required comprehensive search of appropriate music by the author and careful selection by
a skilled GIM therapist. The resulting program consisted of six selections of music. The therapeutical
potential of this program was tested in non-clinical GIM sessions, and it was the conclusion of the
tests that the program was well suited for clinical work with appropriate clients.
The prominent features of the music selections are in accordance with the criteria for music
inclusion in GIM programs proposed by Helen Bonny, the founder of the GIM method. However, fur-
ther research is needed to determine whether these criteria constitute universal criteria for inclusion
of music in a GIM program.
Chapter 6. Subcortical and cortical processing of sound and music in the brain
This chapter does not present research by the author, but summarizes research that is considered
important for the understanding of brain functions and the auditory system. The theories of Gerald
Edelman and Antonio Damasio, founded on decades of research in neuroscience, facilitate the un-
derstanding of brain and consciousness.
Brief descriptions of the ascending and the descending auditory pathways, based on hearing
research, indicate the different levels of sound processing in the auditory system. Finally, studies
of extended brain networks implicated in music processing are highlighted. In particular, a recent
neuroimaging study of the response to a complete piece of music represents an important novel ap-
proach in neuroscience.
Chapter 7. Embodiment
Similar to chapter six, this chapter summarizes research that is considered relevant for the present
project. The investigation of embodiment is the focus of many fields of science, and implies the pos-
sibility of integrating diverse strategies of research.
Comparison of the investigation of bodily entrainment in neuroscience with the investigation
of body movement in receptive music therapy is a field of particular interest. Another relevant theme
is the relationship between the distribution of neurotransmitters in the brain and the forms of vitality
proposed in developmental psychology. A third topic concerns the possible relationships between
phenomenology and neuroscience.
In phenomenology as well as neuroscience, embodiment is a common field of investigation.
At an early stage of the present project, it was expected that the first-person perspective of phenom-
enology and the third-person perspective of neuroscience could be integrated in a new research par-
adigm, entitled neurophenomenology. This expectation has not been fulfilled, as the first attempts at
integrating first-person data in neuroscientific experiments were not continued. An integration may be