Music Listening, Music Therapy, Phenomenology and Neuroscience

Appendix 3.03 Survey of The Neurosciences

and Music III Conference 2008

Disorders and Plasticity

Part VI. Listening to and Making Music Facilitates Brain Recovery Processes

(56

-65)

Title, Category

Aim

Mus. Material, Cultural Ref.

Technology & Procedure

Main focus of interest

Conclusion

*56. Koelsch

(374

-384)

Music therapy and neuroscience

Cat. 12: Therapy

Cat. 18: Bodily impact 57. Schlaug et al.

(385

-394)

White-

matter plasticity in

chronic Broca’s aphasia

Cat. 11: Deficit Cat. 12: Recovery

, therapy

58. Altenmüller et al.
    (39

5-405)

Neural reorganization induced by music

-supported therapy

Cat. 12: Therapy

, recovery

Cat. 17: Sensory

-motor

59. Thaut et al.

(406

-416)

Neurologic music therapy and cognitive rehabilitation

Cat. 12: Therapy

, recovery

Brief overview of factors

contributing to the effects of music

-therapeutic work.

Review of neuroscientific studies using music to investi

• 
  

gate emotion, perception

• 
  

action mediation (”mirror func

• 
  

tion”), and social cognition

To test whether melodic intonation therapy (MIT) for aphasic patients administered in an intense fashion would lead to changes in white

• 
  

matter tracts, particularly the Arcuate Fasciculus (AF)

To assess whether a new treatment of music

-supported

therapy

(MST)

leads to neural

reorganization and motor recov

ery in patients after

stroke

To examine the immediate effec

ts of neurologic music

therapy

(NMT) on cognitive

functioning and emotional adjustment with brain

-injured

persons

Different kinds of musical material. CR:

One study:

Western non

-tonal

Task material:

MIT: (1) Melodic intonation (singing) using two pitches, to exaggerate the normal melodic content of speech.

(2) rhythmic tapping of each syllable, using the patient’s left hand

. CR: Neutral

Task material:

MST:

Exercises on a MIDI

piano and an 8

-pad electronic

drum set. Beginning with 1 tone, systematically increased to songs of 5

-8 tones.

Instructor plays first, patient repeats.

CR: Western

Task material:

Training exercises based on interactive group improvi

• 
  

sations with a focused func

• 
  

tional content: a) emotional adjustment b) executive func

• 
  

tion c) attention d) memory

CR:

Neutral

Comprehensive review of various studies.

53 references.

Technologies: PET, fMRI, EEG, MEG

6 patients with nonfluent aphasia due to left-

hemi-

sphere stroke,

and relatively

preserved comprehension.

Structural MRI with Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) before and after 75 therapy sessions

32 patients received

MST

plus conv

entional treatment.

30 patients

only conventional

treatment

. EEG recordings,

and behavioral tests of motor functions

31 treatment participants, 23 controls. Treatment: 4 sessions on 4 different days

.

Pre/post assessments by means of well-

established

tests

Music listening and music production activate a multitude of brain structures

involved in

cognitive, sensori

-motor,

and

emotional processing.

Modulation of

(1)

Attention

(2)

Emotion

(3)

Cognition

(4)

Behavior

(5)

Communication

Recovery through the right hemisphere. Possible effect of tapping the left hand, which may engage a right

-hemi-

spheric sensorimotor network.

Connections between the temporal and the frontal lobes

EEG: Therapy

-induced

changes in Event

-Related

Desynchronization /

Synchro-

nization (ERD / ERS)

Assessment of a) depression, anxiety, hostility, sensation seek

ing, positive affect. b)

mental flexibility. c) attention. d) memory: Auditory Verbal Learning Test

It is likely that the engage

• 
  

ment of these processes by music can have beneficial effects on the psychological and physiological health of individuals, although the mechanisms underlying such effects are currently not well understood

All pa

tients showed a

significant increase in the absoloute number of fibers in the right AF

. Several

studies have shown that motor and linguistic cortical functions are closely linked

MST leads to marked improvements of motor func

tion after stroke.

These

are accompanied by electro

• 
  

physiological changes indicating a better cortical connectivity

Treatment participants showed improvement in executive function and overall e

motional

adjustment, a

nd lessening

of depression, sensation seeking and anxiety