have strong and diverse motivations for listening to music, including mood regulation and the feeling
of belonging to a wider community of like-minded individuals. They hypothesize that for people with
autism, music provides an opportunity to engage in social-emotional activity without the anxieties
associated with interpersonal interactions (p. 322).
Motivations for music listening in ASD adults
Allen et al. (NM III no. 46, pp. 326-331) have conducted a study of 12 high-functioning adults with
ASD diagnoses, nine with Asperger’s syndrome, three with autism. The researchers used a quali-
tative approach based on semi-structured interviews which explored the nature of the participants’
musical experience. They found two groups which reported a particular musical preference, each
including five individuals; a group which primarily listened to classical music, and a group which de-
veloped an interest in pop music in their teenage years. Motivations for listening were mood altering,
aesthetic pleasure, therapeutic effect, and the feeling of belonging to a community.
The researchers conclude that individuals in their sample use music in several ways similar
to typically developing (TD) people, including mood change, self-management for depression, and
social affiliation. However, they found a striking difference in the description of music. While TD in-
dividuals describe their emotional response to music as valence (happy/sad) and arousal, the ASD
individuals used almost no valence terms, but typically described the energizing or calming effect of
music (p. 330).
Music therapy and neuroscience
Koelsch (NM III no. 56, pp. 374-384) presents a neuroscientific perspective on music therapy,
reviewing 53 studies. He refers to Hillecke’s presentation in NM II,^16 and elaborates on six factors
which contribute to the effects of music therapy; modulation of attention, emotion, cognition, behav-
ior, communication, and perception.
(1) Music can automatically capture attention, and thus distract from negative experiences, such as
pain and anxiety.
(2) Music has an impact on brain structures involved in the modulation of emotions, and an impact
on the autonomic nervous system. Koelsch refers to several studies, including the classic PET ex-
periment by Blood and Zatorre (2001), which reported extremely pleasurable experiences during
music listening, and his own chapter on functional neuroimaging of emotion with music (Koelsch et
al. 2010).
(3) Cognition modulation by music includes memory processes, and processes related to musical
syntax and musical meaning. Music listening enhances cognitive recovery after a cerebral stroke.^17
(4) Concerning behavior modulation, Koelsch refers to articles by Schlaug et al. and Altenmüller et
al. (below, no. 57-58), and to a growing number of studies which indicate neural overlap between
perception and action. In particular, he draws attention to studies of the mirror neuron system,^18 and
to the observation that emotion appears to influence perception-action mediation (pp. 379-381).
(5) Regarding communication, he points out that listening to music can elicit attempts to understand
the intentions and desires of those who produced the music.
(6) Music training exerts an influence on the perception of acoustic features at the level of the brain
stem,^19 and at the level of the cortex (pp. 375-376). This comprehensive article represents an import-
ant step towards recognition of the effects of music therapy.
Melodic intonation therapy
16 Hillecke, NM II No. 28, this chapter.
17 Särkämö, NM IV, this chapter.
18 About the mirror neuron system, see also Fadiga et al., NM III No. 66, this chapter, and Overy, NM IV No. 7, this chapter.
19 About the Auditory brain stem response, see Strait et al., NM III no. 30, and Kraus et al., NM III No. 79, this chapter.