Music as medicine
Ana
1
Bekavac ,
Katharina
2
Jažić ;
mentor: Dubravka Švob
3
Štrac
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
2School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
3Division of Molecular Medicine, Laboratory for Molecular Neuropsychiatry, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia
Introduction
Results
Music is a very complex stimulus, with many different psychological and
physiological effects. It has been recommended as therapeutic tool for a
variety of physical, psychological, cognitive, as well as social problems. In
order to get a better understanding of music as medicine, we have reviewed
a number of articles and collected information about music medical usage in
various conditions.
Various studies demonstrated that music can improve sleep in
both acute and chronic sleep disorders. Positive influence of music
on concentration, mood, pain and stress reduction, as well as
heart rate and blood pressure, have been also reported. Different
subtypes of music therapy can be useful in neurorehabilitation of
disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,
due to beneficial effects on patient’s motor, cognitive and
psychological disturbances.
Materials and Methods
PubMed base has been searched for English-language articles of interest.
Selected topics associated with music included stress, anxiety and
depression, sleep disorders, as well as neurorehabilitation in specific medical
conditions.
Sleep disorders
Stroke
The study of Trahan et al. (2018), which enrolled 651 participants, reported
that more than 60% of subjects listen to music before sleep, since it helps
them feel relaxed and acts as a distraction. The findings obtained on 94
students suggested that heart rate can synchronize itself with the music
beat which then results in lower blood pressure as well (Harmat et al.,
2008). Listening to music before sleep reduced time spent in N1 phase in
27 female subjects (Cordi et al., 2019).
Variety of studies suggest that music may impact stroke motor recovery
(Chen, 2018). The study of Fujioka et al. (2018), which enrolled 28 patients
with chronic stroke suggested beneficial effects of music supported
therapy (MST) on motor, cognitive, and psychosocial functions. Modified
melodic intonation therapy (MMIT), has been shown to be effective for
treating aphasia, a common post-stroke condition (Conklyn et al., 2012).
Fig.1 Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index on sleep quality in music group
(Harmat et al., 2008)
Fig.3 Motor supported therapy in photos (Fujioka et al., 2018)
Stress
Linnemann et al. (2015, 2016) demonstrated in around 50 subjects that
music can reduce the intensity of stress response depending on the
strength of specific stressor, unless the stressor is too strong, and that
music also has a large effect on the post-stress recovery. In the study
enrolling 60 subjects, listening to music has been suggested to release the
endorphins and it might be connected to arousal (Thoma et al., 2013).
Anxiety and
depression
Braun Janzen et al.
(2019) investigated the
effects of music in 20
depressed patients and
observed changes in
measures of depression
and associated
symptoms, including
sleep quality, quality of
life, and anhedonia.
However, there was
inconclusive evidence as
to whether music
interventions are
effective in alleviating
symptoms of anxiety and
depression in older
adults with mild dementia
(Petrovsky et al., 2015).
Parkinson's disease
Different studies have shown that RAS (Rhythmic acoustic stimulation),
during which the patient with Parkinson’s disease is supposed to
synchronize his movements with auditory cue, can have a positive effect
on various parameters, such as gait velocity and stride lenght, and could
also reduce the number of falls (Calabrò et al., 2019; Thaut et al., 2019).
Alzheimer’s disease
Reportedly, music therapy could enhance episodic memory (Palisson et
al., 2015) and aid in improving the psycho-behavioral profile (Giovagnoli et
al., 2018) of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Fig.2 Reasons why people listen to music
(Trahan et al., 2018)
Discussion
Conclusion
Most significant limitation is the
number of subjects enrolled in
the experiments investigating
the effects of music. More
research is needed in order to
determine the exact underlying
neurophysiologic mechanisms
of music therapy.
Unlike drugs or medical
procedures, music needs no
government approval or
clinical
trials - it is
inexpensive and simple way
to improve the quality of
people's lives and cannot
hurt even if it fails to help.
Fig. 4 Verbal episodic memory performance in 15 healthy
controls and 12 patients with AD (Palisson et al., 2015)
References
•Braun Janzen et al. (2019). A Pilot Study Investigating the Effect
of Music-Based Intervention on Depression and
Anhedonia. Frontiers in Psychology
•Calabrò et al. (2019). Walking to your right music: a randomized
controlled trial on the novel use of treadmill plus music in
Parkinson's disease. J Neuroeng Rehabil.
•Chen (2018). Music-supported therapy for stroke motor recovery:
theoretical and practical considerations. Ann N Y Acad Sci.
•Conklyn et al. (2012) The effects of modified melodic intonation
therapy on nonfluent aphasia: a pilot study. J Speech Lang Hear
Res.
•Cordi et al. (2019). Effects of Relaxing Music on Healthy
Sleep. Scientific reports
•Fujioka et al. (2018) The effects of music-supported therapy on
motor, cognitive, and psychosocial functions in chronic stroke.
Ann N Y Acad Sci.
This work has been supported by the project „The role of music and sounds in response to stress: •Giovagnoli et al. (2018) Combining drug and music therapy in
patients with moderate Alzheimer's disease: a randomized study.
psychophysiological indicators“, Foundation of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Neurol Sci.
•Harmat et al. (2008). Music improves sleep quality in students.
Journal of Advanced Nursing
•Linnemann et al. (2015). Music listening as a means of stress
reduction in daily life. Psychoneuroendocrinology
•Linnemann et al. (2016). The stress-reducing effect of music
listening varies depending on the social context.
Psychoneuroendocrinology
•Pallison et al. (2015). Music enhances verbal episodic
memory in Alzheimer's disease. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol.
•Petrovsky et al. (2015). Review of the effect of music
interventions on symptoms of anxiety and depression in older
adults with mild dementia. International Psychogeriatrics
•Thaut et al. (2019) Rhythmic auditory stimulation for reduction
of falls in Parkinson's disease: a randomized controlled study.
Clin Rehabil.
•Thoma et al. (2013). The effect of music on the human stress
response. PloS one
•Trahan et al. (2018). The music that helps people sleep and
the reasons they believe it works: A mixed methods analysis of
online survey reports. PloS one