Search

Background-\ud \ud Substance use disorder (SUD) is the continued use of one or more psychoactive substances, including alcohol, despite negative effects on health, functioning, and social relations. Problematic drug use has increased by 10% globally since 2013, and harmful use of alcohol is associated with 5.3% of all deaths. Direct effects of music therapy (MT) on problematic substance use are not known, but it may be helpful in alleviating associated psychological symptoms and decreasing substance craving.\ud \ud Objectives-\ud \ud To compare the effect of music therapy (MT) in addition to standard care versus standard care alone, or to standard care plus an active control intervention, on psychological symptoms, substance craving, motivation for treatment, and motivation to stay clean/sober.\ud \ud Search methods-\ud \ud We searched the following databases (from inception to 1 February 2021): the Cochrane Drugs and Alcohol Specialised Register; CENTRAL; MEDLINE (PubMed); eight other databases, and two trials registries. We handsearched reference lists of all retrieved studies and relevant systematic reviews.\ud \ud Selection criteria-\ud \ud We included randomised controlled trials comparing MT plus standard care to standard care alone, or MT plus standard care to active intervention plus standard care for people with SUD.\ud \ud Data collection and analysis-\ud \ud We used standard Cochrane methodology.\ud \ud Main results-\ud \ud We included 21 trials involving 1984 people. We found moderate‐certainty evidence of a medium effect favouring MT plus standard care over standard care alone for substance craving (standardised mean difference (SMD) –0.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) –1.23 to –0.10; 3 studies, 254 participants), with significant subgroup differences indicating greater reduction in craving for MT intervention lasting one to three months; and small‐to‐medium effect favouring MT for motivation for treatment/change (SMD 0.41, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.61; 5 studies, 408 participants). We found no clear evidence of a beneficial effect on depression (SMD –0.33, 95% CI –0.72 to 0.07; 3 studies, 100 participants), or motivation to stay sober/clean (SMD 0.22, 95% CI –0.02 to 0.47; 3 studies, 269 participants), though effect sizes ranged from large favourable effect to no effect, and we are uncertain about the result. There was no evidence of beneficial effect on anxiety (mean difference (MD) –0.17, 95% CI –4.39 to 4.05; 1 study, 60 participants), though we are uncertain about the result. There was no meaningful effect for retention in treatment for participants receiving MT plus standard care as compared to standard care alone (risk ratio (RR) 0.99, 95% 0.93 to 1.05; 6 studies, 199 participants).\ud \ud There was a moderate effect on motivation for treatment/change when comparing MT plus standard care to another active intervention plus standard care (SMD 0.46, 95% CI –0.00 to 0.93; 5 studies, 411 participants), and certainty in the result was moderate. We found no clear evidence of an effect of MT on motivation to stay sober/clean when compared to active intervention, though effect sizes ranged from large favourable effect to no effect, and we are uncertain about the result (MD 0.34, 95% CI –0.11 to 0.78; 3 studies, 258 participants). There was no clear evidence of effect on substance craving (SMD –0.04, 95% CI –0.56 to 0.48; 3 studies, 232 participants), depression (MD –1.49, 95% CI –4.98 to 2.00; 1 study, 110 participants), or substance use (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.29; 1 study, 140 participants) at one‐month follow‐up when comparing MT plus standard care to active intervention plus standard care. There were no data on adverse effects.\ud \ud Unclear risk of selection bias applied to most studies due to incomplete description of processes of randomisation and allocation concealment. All studies were at unclear risk of detection bias due to lack of blinding of outcome assessors for subjective outcomes (mostly self‐report). We judged that bias arising from such lack of blinding would not differ between groups. Similarly, it is not possible to blind participants and providers to MT. We consider knowledge of receiving this type of therapy as part of the therapeutic effect itself, and thus all studies were at low risk of performance bias for subjective outcomes. \ud \ud We downgraded all outcomes one level for imprecision due to optimal information size not being met, and two levels for outcomes with very low sample size. \ud \ud Authors' conclusions-\ud \ud Results from this review suggest that MT as 'add on' treatment to standard care can lead to moderate reductions in substance craving and can increase motivation for treatment/change for people with SUDs receiving treatment in detoxification and short‐term rehabilitation settings. Greater reduction in craving is associated with MT lasting longer than a single session. We have moderate‐to‐low confidence in our findings as the included studies were downgraded in certainty due to imprecision, and most included studies were conducted by the same researcher in the same detoxification unit, which considerably impacts the transferability of findings.

Recent studies highlight the role of attention (i.e., executive attention and joint attention) in the negative association between children’s externalizing behavior problems (EBPs) and self-regulation. In music therapy improvisation, “Motifs” represent a repeated and meaningful use of freely improvised or structured music. They have been reported to be effective in drawing attention toward joint musical engagement. This study aimed to examine the effects of clinically derived motifs on the attention of a child with EBPs. Video microanalysis of four therapy sessions was employed. Interaction segments with/without motifs were then selected for analysis: (a) Executive attention measurement: a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine the effects of Motifs (Factor I) across sessions (Factor II) on the duration of interaction segments. (b) Joint attention measurement: another two-way ANOVA investigated the effects of these two factors on the duration of joint attentive responses in each segment. Results showed that (a) the segments with Motifs tended to decrease in duration throughout the sessions, while (b) these segments showed a significant increase in proportions of joint attentional responses. These findings suggest a positive effect of Motifs on enhancing efficiency of joint attention execution over time, indicating the child’s recognition of the Motifs through learning.

Introduction: Therapeutic Instrumental Music Performance (TIMP) is well suited for upper limb rehabilitation following stroke. Published protocols serve to inform clinicians on intervention design and delivery. However, few case studies are available that address patient suitability, protocol modifications to support treatment adherence and suitability of home environment.\ud \ud Methods: Two case studies from a small randomized controlled trial illustrate TIMP protocol modifications and considerations required for home delivery. Qualitative, quantitative and observational data report on participants‘ outcomes and engagement with six weeks of bi-weekly exercises. TIMP adaptations to enhance audio-motor synchronization are described.\ud \ud Results: Outcomes for the less impaired participant with fewer complex health needs were significantly better after six weeks, particularly pinch grip (1 peg in 20 seconds to 15/120). The second participant improved on the water pouring task: 44 seconds to 13.16.\ud \ud Discussion: Severity of stroke and impairment are major factors influencing treatment outcomes. Flexibility in the TIMP protocols, such as emphasizing the underlying pulse and building the dynamic contour, aids treatment adherence and movement synchrony. It is essential to assess homes for access, sound containment and space. Outcome measures for detecting compensatory movement, smoothness and velocity of movement are needed to better inform treatment effects.

Segmenting audio into homogeneous sections such as music and speech helps us understand the content of audio. It is useful as a pre-processing step to index, store, and modify audio recordings, radio broadcasts and TV programmes. Deep learning models for segmentation are generally trained on copyrighted material, which cannot be shared. Annotating these datasets is time-consuming and expensive and therefore, it significantly slows down research progress. In this study, we present a novel procedure that artificially synthesises data that resembles radio signals. We replicate the workflow of a radio DJ in mixing audio and investigate parameters like fade curves and audio ducking. We trained a Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN) on this synthesised data and outperformed state-of-the-art algorithms for music-speech detection. This paper demonstrates the data synthesis procedure as a highly effective technique to generate large datasets to train deep neural networks for audio segmentation., 5 pages, 3 figures, Accepted to ICASSP 2021

Objective:\ud To assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate music therapy as a home-based intervention for arm hemiparesis in stroke.\ud \ud Design:\ud A pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial, with cross-over design. Randomization by statistician using computer-generated, random numbers concealed in opaque envelopes.\ud \ud Setting:\ud Participants’ homes across Cambridgeshire, UK.\ud \ud Subjects:\ud Eleven people with stroke and arm hemiparesis, 3–60 months post stroke, following discharge from community rehabilitation.\ud \ud Interventions:\ud Each participant engaged in therapeutic instrumental music performance in 12 individual clinical contacts, twice weekly for six weeks.\ud \ud Main measures:\ud Feasibility was estimated by recruitment from three community stroke teams over a 12-month period, attrition rates, completion of treatment and successful data collection. Structured interviews were conducted pre and post intervention to establish participant tolerance and preference. Action Research Arm Test and Nine-hole Peg Test data were collected at weeks 1, 6, 9, 15 and 18, pre and post intervention by a blinded assessor.\ud \ud Results:\ud A total of 11 of 14 invited participants were recruited (intervention n = 6, waitlist n = 5). In total, 10 completed treatment and data collection.\ud \ud Conclusion:\ud It cannot be concluded whether a larger trial would be feasible due to unavailable data regarding a number of eligible patients screened. Adherence to treatment, retention and interview responses might suggest that the intervention was motivating for participants

When people listen to music, various brain processes are involved, including those that assess the rhythmic, tonal, timbral, and structural properties of the music-which we will call cognitive processing-as well as other processes, such as affective processing. Cognitive processing can, for example, allow us to implicitly notice when a note is out of key or out of rhythm by building a musical context out of the incoming sound stream. By affective processing, on the other hand, we refer to those brain processes that allow us to perceive or feel emotion in response to music, and to feel enjoyment of music or even find it beautiful. Only few studies on the processing of musical sounds have differentiated the psychological mechanisms underlying cognitive and affective processes (Gagnon & Peretz, 2000), as have some studies of other types of aesthetic stimuli, such as pictures (Mandler & Shebo, 1983). Even less is known about the brain correlates of those processes and their chronometric succession (e.g., see reviews by Brattico, Bogert, & Jacobsen, 2013; Jacobsen, 2006).Our current understanding of the information processing of music in the brain is mostly based on cognitive responses to musical sound patterns and chords, such as discrimination of sound feature changes or detection of tonality violations (for reviews, see the books by Koelsch [2012] and Peretz & Zatorre [2003]). A useful method to study the chronometric ordering of stages in auditory processing is the event-related potential (ERP), a neurophysiological signal elicited in response to a sensory or behavioral event, which comprises several components that are supposed to originate from distinct neuronal populations, (Luck, 2014). The ERP is measured by averaging time-accurate electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings over many trials of stimuli and across tens of participants. ERP studies have evidenced the early sensory encoding of sound features in the primary auditory cortex, as indexed by the N1 component, which peaks centrally at around 100 ms after stimulus onset (Naatanen & Picton, 1987). The subsequent stage of predictive coding and error detection (the error between predictions based on the regularities in the auditory stimulation and the incoming sound) is indexed by the mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the ERP, which is elicited by a feature change in a repeating stimulus sequence and peaks frontally around 150 to 200 ms after stimulus onset (Friston, 2005; Naatanen, Gaillard, & Mantysalo, 1978; Picton, Alain, Otten, Ritter, & Achim, 2000). The change can be simple, such as a sequence of identical tones being interrupted by a tone of a different frequency (Sams, Paavilainen, Alho, & Naatanen, 1985), or it can be more abstract, such as the violation of basic rules in tone patterns or combinations (e.g., the contrast between descending and ascending intervals: Saarinen, Paavilainen, Schoger, Tervaniemi, & Naatanen, 1992; or major and minor chords: Virtala et al., 2011).Cognitive processing of more complex rules involving an integration of sounds over longer time spans has been associated with the early right anterior negativity (ERAN), as well as the later P300. Similarly to the MMN, the ERAN peaks frontally around 200 ms after the onset of an unexpected musical sound; however, whereas the MMN is based on regularities between presently occurring successive sounds, the ERAN is a marker of unusual chord successions that depends on representations of harmonic regularities from long-term memory and can be caused by longdistance music-syntactic dependencies (Koelsch, Gunter, Friederici, & Schroger, 2000; Koelsch & Jentschke, 2010). A later ERP component related to chord processing is the P300, an endogenous, attentive response related to judgment of a stimulus (Squires, Squires, & Hillyard, 1975). The P300 peaks parietally 220 to 500 ms after the onset of a target tone in a discrimination task (Polich, 2007), of an incongruous tone presented at the end of a melody (e. …

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: Main objective To assess the effects of music therapy, as a primary or a supportive intervention, compared to standard care, wait-list control or no treatment, for people with substance use disorders, to reduce substance use,the severity of substance dependence/abuse, psychological symptoms, and substance craving; to enhance motivation for change/treatment; and for retention in treatment. Secondary objective To assess the impact of the number of music therapy sessions on study outcomes.

How do antidepressants or recreational drugs influence the music experience in the context of therapy or during music performance and listening? Using drugs to enhance performance we can describe a complementary interaction between lifestyle, personal identity and drugs, influencing musical identities in creative processes. Treating depressed clients with individual psychodynamic music therapy (MT) worked well with those also taking anti-depressants, but also initiated a process in which the need for medication started to decrease. While antidepressants may help to keep anxiety, energy loss and rumination within limits, MT induces a process in which emotional limitations are likely to become the target of change, mediated via work on the musical identity of the client, as exemplified in a case example Research on chronobiological mood bias suggests that chronobiological conditions, drug profiles and musical identity should be taken into account. This chronobiological conditions, drug profiles and musical identity into account may help to identify performance peaks and optimise treatment schedules. peerReviewed

In order to comprehend the impact of music therapy or music therapy processes, a researcher might look for an approach where the topic under investigation can be understood within a broader context. This calls for a rich inclusion of data and consequently a limited number of participants and may be achieved through the use of objectivist case study research. The strength of the case study design is that it allows for uncovering or suggesting causal relationships in real-life settings through an intensive and rich collection of data. According to Hilliard (1993), the opposite applies for extensive designs, in which a small amount of data is gathered on a large number of subjects. With the richness of data, the intensive design is ―the primary pragmatic reason for engaging in single-case or small N research‖ (p. 374) and for working from an idiographic rather than a nomothetic perspective.

Music is a complex, dynamic stimulus with an un-paralleled ability to stimulate a global network of neural activity involved in attention, emotion, memory, communication, motor co-ordination and cognition. As such, it provides neuroscience with a highly effective tool to develop our understanding of brain function, connectivity and plasticity. Increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging technologies have enabled the expanding field of music neuroscience to reveal how musical experience, perception and cognition may support neuroplasticity, with important implications for the rehabilitation and assessment of those with acquired brain injuries and neurodegenerative conditions. Other studies have indicated the potential for music to support arousal, attention and emotional regulation, suggesting therapeutic applications for conditions including ADHD, PTSD, autism, learning disorders and mood disorders. In common with neuroscience, the music therapy profession has advanced significantly in the past 20 years. Various interventions designed to address functional deficits and health care needs have been developed, alongside standardised behavioural assessments. Historically, music therapy has drawn its evidence base from a number of contrasting theoretical frameworks. Clinicians are now turning to neuroscience, which offers a unifying knowledge base and frame of reference to understand and measure therapeutic interventions from a biomedical perspective. Conversely, neuroscience is becoming more enriched by learning about the neural effects of ‘real world’ clinical applications in music therapy. While neuroscientific imaging methods may provide biomarking evidence for the efficacy of music therapy interventions it also offers important tools to describe time-locked interactive therapy processes and feeds into the emerging field of 3 June 2017 | Dialogues in Music Therapy and Music Neuroscience social neuroscience. Music therapy is bound to the process of creating and experiencing music together in improvisation, listening and reflection. Thus the situated cognition and experience of music developing over time and in differing contexts is of interest in time series data. We encouraged researchers to submit papers illustrating the mutual benefits of dialogue between music therapy and other disciplines important to this field, particularly neuroscience, neurophysiology, and neuropsychology. The current eBook consists of the peer reviewed responses to our call for papers.

Electroencephalographic (EEG) frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) and frontal midline (FM) theta have been suggested as biomarkers for depression and anxiety, but have mostly been assessed in small and non-clinical studies. In a clinical sample of 79 adults with depression (ICD-10: F32), resting EEG and scales of depression (MADRS) and anxiety (HADS-A) were measured at intake and after 3 months. FAA and FM theta values were referenced to a normative population database. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and correlations with psychiatric tests were examined. Reliability was sufficient. However, FAA and FM theta values were close to the general population, and correlations with psychiatric tests were mostly small and non-significant, with the exception of FAA on F7-F8 z-scores and HADS-A. We conclude that the validity of FAA and FM theta and therefore their potential as biomarkers for depression and anxiety remain unclear.

BackgroundMusic therapy has previously been found to be effective in the treatment of depression but the studies have been methodologically insufficient and lacking in clarity about the clinical model employed.AimsTo determine the efficacy of music therapy added to standard care compared with standard care only in the treatment of depression among working-age people.MethodParticipants (n= 79) with an ICD–10 diagnosis of depression were randomised to receive individual music therapy plus standard care (20 bi-weekly sessions) or standard care only, and followed up at baseline, at 3 months (after intervention) and at 6 months. Clinical measures included depression, anxiety, general functioning, quality of life and alexithymia. Trial registration: ISRCTN84185937.ResultsParticipants receiving music therapy plus standard care showed greater improvement than those receiving standard care only in depression symptoms (mean difference 4.65, 95% CI 0.59 to 8.70), anxiety symptoms (1.82, 95% CI 0.09 to 3.55) and general functioning (–4.58, 95% CI −8.93 to −0.24) at 3-month follow-up. The response rate was significantly higher for the music therapy plus standard care group than for the standard care only group (odds ratio 2.96, 95% CI 1.01 to 9.02).ConclusionsIndividual music therapy combined with standard care is effective for depression among working-age people with depression. The results of this study along with the previous research indicate that music therapy with its specific qualities is a valuable enhancement to established treatment practices.

Previous research highlights the importance of staff involvement in psychosocial interventions targeting neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia. Music therapy has shown potential effects, but it is not clear how this intervention can be programmed to involve care staff within the delivery of patients’ care. This study reports initial feasibility and outcomes from a five month music therapy programme including weekly individual active music therapy for people with dementia and weekly post-therapy video presentations for their carers in care homes. 17 care home residents and 10 care staff were randomised to the music therapy intervention group or standard care control group. The cluster randomised, controlled trial included baseline, 3-month, 5-month and post-intervention 7-month measures of residents’ symptoms and well-being. Carer-resident interactions were also assessed. Feasibility was based on carers’ feedback through semi-structured interviews, programme evaluations and track records of the study. The music therapy programme appeared to be a practicable and acceptable intervention for care home residents and staff in managing dementia symptoms. Recruitment and retention data indicated feasibility but also challenges. Preliminary outcomes indicated differences in symptoms (13.42, 95 % CI: [4.78 to 22.07; p = 0.006]) and in levels of wellbeing (−0.74, 95 % CI: [−1.15 to −0.33; p = 0.003]) between the two groups, indicating that residents receiving music therapy improved. Staff in the intervention group reported enhanced caregiving techniques as a result of the programme. The data supports the value of developing a music therapy programme involving weekly active individual music therapy sessions and music therapist-carer communication. The intervention is feasible with modifications in a more rigorous evaluation of a larger sample size. Clinicaltrials.gov, number NCT01744600 .

Cannabis is known to change auditory perception and music appreciation as many musicians and music listeners report in narratives, interviews and biographies. An ethnographic pre/post study was conducted in a habituated naturalistic setting, combining qualitative and quantitative methods with four single case studies. Physiological results were gained with a mobile bedside EEG imaging machine in an authentic setting of the consumer's life-world. Results represent explorative data of participants' spontaneous EEG-activity, referable to results of psychological and medical studies. Increasing Alpha-signal strength in parietal association cortex and significant Theta band changes in temporal and on Alpha in occipital areas seem to represent an intraindividual constant EEG correlate of temporarily intensified attention ("high"), resulting in an altered music perception by hyperfocusing on acoustic space and broadened insight into the "space between the notes." THC has a measurable influence on cerebral music processing and seems to enhance acoustic perception temporarily.

An explorative study on cannabis and music perception is presented, conducted in a qualitative and quantitative way in a habituated setting. EEG-brainmapping data (4 subjects; rest-pre/post listening; 28 EEG traces; smoked cannabis containing 20 mg delta-9-THC with tobacco) were averaged and analyzed with a T-Test and a visual topographic schedule. Compared to pre-THC-rest and pre-THC-music, the post-THC-music EEG showed a rise of alpha percentage and power in parietal cortex on four subjects, while other frequencies decreased in power. Comparing pre/post music EEGs, differences (p < 0.025) were also found in the right fronto-temporal cortex on theta, and on alpha in left occipital cortex. Results represent an inter-individual constant EEG correlate of altered music perception, hyperfocusing on the musical time-space and cannabis-induced changes on perception of musical acoustics. Cannabis might be of help for hearing impaired persons.

Music is known to alter people's ordinary experience of space and time. Not only does this challenge the concept of invariant space and time tacitly assumed in psychology but it may also help us understand how music works and how music can be understood as an embodied experience. Yet research about these alterations is in its infancy. This review is intended to delineate a future research agenda. We review experimental evidence and subjective reports of the influence of music on the representation of space and time and present prominent approaches to explaining these effects. We discuss the role of absorption and altered states of consciousness and their associated changes in attention and neurophysiological processes, as well as prominent models of human time processing and time experience. After integrating the reviewed research, we conclude that research on the influence of music on the representation of space and time is still quite inconclusive but that integrating the different approaches could lead to a better understanding of the observed effects. We also provide a working model that integrates a large part of the evidence and theories. Several suggestions for further research in both music psychology and cognitive psychology are outlined.

Electroencephalographic (EEG) frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) and frontal midline (FM) theta have been suggested as biomarkers for depression and anxiety, but have mostly been assessed in small and non-clinical studies. In a clinical sample of 79 adults with depression (ICD-10: F32), resting EEG and scales of depression (MADRS) and anxiety (HADS-A) were measured at intake and after 3 months. FAA and FM theta values were referenced to a normative population database. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and correlations with psychiatric tests were examined. Reliability was sufficient. However, FAA and FM theta values were close to the general population, and correlations with psychiatric tests were mostly small and non-significant, with the exception of FAA on F7-F8 z-scores and HADS-A. We conclude that the validity of FAA and FM theta and therefore their potential as biomarkers for depression and anxiety remain unclear.

Music has been used since ancient times in healing rituals. It has been played for people to induce altered states of consciousness (ASC), which change the focus of attention, mood, and thoughts about the world and the self. Music and altered states are connected in various ways concerning context, personal set, socio-ecological setting, and cultural beliefs. Discussion is ongoing as to whether music itself induces the changes via a “trance mechanism” or whether the setting and rituals connected to music are responsible for the induction of ASC. The authors conducted an explorative attempt to represent interdependencies of set and setting, sound and trance through electrophysiological correlation in the topographic spontaneous EEG. They opted for a sound trance induction with the sound of a body monochord (a bed-like stringed instrument producing a droning sound) in the context of a group ritual. In comparison with uninfluenced rest, they found individual changes in spontaneous EEG. Trance reactions to sound were seemingly more determined by the person’s susceptibility to hypnosis as measured by the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory than by sound alone.

Background Music therapy is frequently offered to individuals suffering from depression. Despite the lack of research into the effects of music therapy on this population, anecdotal evidence suggests that the results are rather promising. The aim of this study is to examine whether improvisational, psychodynamically orientated music therapy in an individual setting helps reduce symptoms of depression and improve other health-related outcomes. In particular, attention will be given to mediator agents, such as musical expression and interaction in the sessions, as well as to the explanatory potential of EEG recordings in investigating emotion related music perception of individuals with depression. Methods 85 adults (18–50 years of age) with depression (ICD-10: F 32 or F33) will be randomly assigned to an experimental or a control condition. All participants will receive standard care, but the experimental group will be offered biweekly sessions of improvisational music therapy over a period of 3 months. A blind assessor will measure outcomes before testing, after 3 months, and after 6 months. Discussion This study aims to fill a gap in knowledge as to whether active (improvisational) music therapy applied to people with depression improves their condition. For the first time in this context, the mediating processes, such as changes in musical expression and interaction during the course of therapy, will be objectively investigated, and it is expected that the results will provide new insights into these processes. Furthermore, the findings are expected to reveal whether music related emotional experiences, as measured by EEG, can be utilized in assessing a depressive client's improvement in the therapy. The size and the comprehensiveness of the study are sufficient for generalizing its findings to clinical practice as well as to further music therapy research. Trial registration ISRCTN84185937