The Effects of Music in Therapy - Essay Example

Lecturer: The Effects of Music in Therapy Music therapy consists of listening, singing or playing music instruments since music and singing can stimulate specialization of brain hemispheres. Clinical observations show that singing depends on the right hemisphere structures thus singing can be exploited in order to facilitate speech reconstruction for individuals re-learning language. Moreover, singing can help develop articulation, breath control and rhythm, in addition, singing within a group setting aids improve social skills and foster improvement in awareness of others. For people with dementia, a song can promote memories and discussions from the past; thus, reducing nervousness and fear. In addition, individuals who have difficulties speaking after stroke, music therapy can stimulate language canters within the brain; thus, promoting the ability to sing. Playing music develops coordination of both gross and fine motor within people with impaired motor or neurological trauma because of stroke or head injury. Music therapy brings relaxation and has positive effects that enhance communication and emotional comfort; moreover, it enables recall of life experiences and emotional experiences. Music accompanies many, significant life events and in most cases the musical memories get stored for long periods compared to those that are not accompanied by music. Therefore, if words are no longer recognizable, familiar music offers a sense of comfort and safety thus decreasing anxiety. While cognitive and language functions deteriorate with age, many musical abilities seem preserved for longer periods. Music is universal to all human cultures and the capability to comprehend music is innate similar to communication. Melody in vocal communication results from roots of oral language and is possible to trace it together with human development; thus, music and language seem to have special features that offer music a chance to shape and improve language processing (Moreno 334). Both music and speech represent complex uses of sound by people and scientists have found that language and music share common areas in brain. Moreover, time organizes music and language; thus, language and music together with synapses that support them increase with time. Therefore, music and language rely on exposure to expand and they are both specific to culture since how English speakers organize words and music differs from how Japanese speakers organize their music and words. Learning through music is useful in strengthening non-musical areas like communication and physical coordination, which are essential to the functioning of everyday lives (Moreno 334-340). Music therapists use music to foster self-expression among patients with emotional disorders, as well; they use receptive music listening to aid in training and physical rehabilitation of people suffering from neuromuscular conditions (Aldridge 18). Thus, music therapists employ lyric discussion to demonstrate and emphasize language thoughts in children or adults with brain injuries. Music therapists use developing knowledge to determine effective strategies for using music in rehabilitation of individuals with neurologic dysfunction resulting from traumatic brain injury. In this setting, music therapy is coordinated in accordance with other therapies to aid patients attain their cognitive, sensory-motor, communication and social aspirations of rehabilitation. Research shows that pairing music and physical therapies can improve cognition, communication and ease discomfort (Aldridge 25). Music is a sensory medium able to arouse the nervous system and cueing altered states of awareness in individuals (Moreno 339). Music therapy is an effective treatment for someone with low awareness states, whose receptive and expressive communication skills have severely been compromised. Music therapists believe that the fundamentals of communication are similar to those involved in music. Patients who have low awareness states respond to music for four reasons that include vocal dynamics, articulation, phrasing, pitch and timing regardless of the stage of life, since these are powerful elements in both music and communication (Magee 526). Moreover, music motivates without consideration of culture and continues to stimulate and arouse from birth to end of life. In addition, music can communicate and arouse feeling without depending in language. Music motivates through arousal of the human resolve to act, since human will is an essential factor in rehabilitation and a potential predictor of patient success; therefore, music serves a catalyst for deeds that result in desired change. Music therapists use music rehabilitation to prompt physical response, structure response completion and reinforce occurrences of non-music behaviour. Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) is a key strategy used by speech therapists as well as music therapists in speech and language rehabilitation (Moreno 342). The theory in (MIT) is that speech functions impaired by damage to one brain hemisphere can be relearned by other cells; in this case, return of speech capability can be a matter of retraining brain cells. Some patients maintain music capability particularly singing abilities; thus, MIT techniques retrain speech through simplified singing experiences since singing is the noticeable link to speech (Aldridge 13). Loss of cognitive function is prevalent in age-related memory loss and in progressive illnesses like Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases (Magee 524). Music therapy is considered a treatment of choice in cognitively impaired old patients who respond to music instead of other things. Various empirical studies exhibit efficiency of music therapy in brain-injury rehabilitation and improve expressive communication in individuals with neuro-communication disorders. Functional gains have been attained as demonstrated by the application of music therapy in retraining programmes for patients with traumatic brain injury. The simple reasons why music is an efficient treatment for patients with severely compromised receptive and expressive language faculties include communication relying on musical parameters like pitch, articulation and phrasing (Jane 1227). Even before infants their language abilities, they can communicate urgent feeling states through vocalisations since music is an innate capability in human beings. Moreover, music is a strong social medium through which individuals interact and respond; as well, it elicits emotional reactions and conveys feelings. Music therapy assist rehabilitation of social functioning and the capacity to develop relations with others since music is a social activity and the tasks involve pragmatic communication like listening, imitation, repetition and development of ideas; thus, through this way, social skills are addressed without the utilization of language. Furthermore, the emotional nature of medium facilitates emotional and social adjustments to the different conditions of the patient’s circumstances. Vocalisation of immediate feeling through non-verbal music parameters is an innate human condition across human cultures (Magee 522-526; Jane 1222-1225). Many studies suggest that music therapy is an efficient treatment for people with impaired communication following a brain injury, stroke or the various neurological traumas (Weintraub, Ravinder and Marc 44). Usually, the intervention utilises singing and vocal instructions to facilitate automated responses that modify speaking rate as part of language rehabilitation. Moreover, music therapy is reported to be an efficient intervention for addressing mood, self-esteem and improving the quality of life in neurological patients. Neurological patients that receive music therapy in their rehabilitation programme show significant involvement in their rehabilitation and tend to be more socially interactive. Music induces therapeutic change through activation of music therapy, which allows people with various neurologic conditions to express, identify and modulate emotions and psychological responses in ways different from verbally mediated therapies (Weintraub, Ravinder and Marc 47). Since speech involves complex cortical processes, the recovery of full functioning can be impaired after brain damage (Moreno 340). One type of speech disorder is aphasia, which is a general language impairment that affects all language modalities like speaking, reading, listening and writing. Musical perception and its production are thought to be under the control of both hemispheres of the brain, with certain theorists attesting that the right hemisphere is concerned with melodic aspects and rhythm is thought to be processed in the left hemisphere or in the both hemispheres. The strong association of music with the right hemisphere recommends music therapy for people with neurological speech disorders arising from the left hemisphere. MIT employs singing, rhythm and points of stress in order to aid and stimulate purposive speech in people with communication disorders and research shows that MIT intervention improves speech in neurological patients (Moreno 334). Moreover, rhythm is essential to both music and speech thus rhythmic training is fruitful treatment for people suffering from neurogenic communication disorders. Even though, the influence of music on cognition is a new notion, researchers have explored the link and revealed that music can improve behavioural performance and modify brain substrates (Jane 1227). The new understanding regarding the relation between music and cognition is aiding scientists in comprehending the effects environmental influences on human cognition. Present evidence implies a link between music and language skills, the two unique and complex human activities. Both music and language share various characteristics, with the obvious link being that they both take place at auditory level and other studies show relations at other levels. Even though, some studies may have methodological differences, it is reasonable they lead to an interesting path, which is the memory link between language and music or the shared processing between language and music. Therefore, research findings seem to suggest a tight relationship between language and music at cognitive and sensory levels; therefore, language and music seem to be unique in sharing of resources. The reasonable explanation is that resources offer certain processing function necessary in both domains; therefore, studies show the influence of music on language processing and brain structures necessary in its processing (Jane 1224-1228). Neurological as well as clinical evidence show mutual relation between the function of the brain and musical stimuli. This goes beyond the scope of traditional music therapy within social science, to neuroscience model, in which music is employed to alter brain functioning; thus, resulting in measureable outcomes. There is vast evidence from rehabilitation science demonstrating that rhythmic stimuli can help recover function in people who have decreased function because of traumatic brain injury. Neurologic music therapists apply several standardised treatment methods in cognitive rehabilitation, speech and language rehabilitation. Thus, music neuroscience research has resulted in fresh and fascinating information regarding how music influences the brain and the way this complex medium facilitates rehabilitative changes (Magee 530-532). Music therapy incorporates group songs, which uphold a sense of group identity. The use of musical elements like rhythm and pulse creates a structure of group activities where every patient can practice and extend verbal and non-verbal communication skills (Francisco 790). Music therapy is a medium for motivating patients and offering them opportunities to practice functional tasks thus experiencing success. In music therapy, music is not an end in itself; rather, it is a means to an end in that it tries to connect people through music. Music therapy is an organized use of music in psychotherapy, treatment and education of people with physical, emotional or mental disorder; thus, music therapy is the utilisation of music to attain therapeutic aims like restoration and enhancement of mental health. Nevertheless, success or failure of music therapy relies on humans and musical factors; since, the emergence of music therapy was relevant to the use of music as an individual and fundamental human act of expression. Music therapy brings changes, some of which have strong effect and have pragmatic power, since it has been shown to be efficacious in small trials. Music and music therapy are experiences that patients have that shift negative thoughts about a disease into the background and provides them with ways of expressing their feelings of freedom, pleasure and security. Thus, music therapy helps people to institute meaningful communication even when speech fails. Music therapy promotes dialogues, since it recognizes individual needs and accustoms itself with them; thus, the patient can maintain or recover his or her identity with many possibilities (Francisco 787-790). In conclusion, music appears to advance diverse cognitive skills; however, most results never show a clear link to the causes. Nevertheless, various studies suggest music therapy involves essential brain modification at structural and functional levels. As evidenced in scientific studies, there is a strong interrelation between language and music neural networks in functional, thereby setting the ground for probable effects of musical therapy in language and speech impairment treatment. Various studies support the potential of music therapy as a rehabilitation tool for neurologic patients. Music therapy is a significant intervention for addressing various speech and language difficulties that occur after neurological damage; even though, evidence based research on its effects on neurological speech as well as language rehabilitation is still small in this stage, a sturdy clinical and theoretical basis exist. Increasing body of evidence has helped improve the understanding the role music plays in treatment of disorders and propel the paradigm shift in music therapy from social science to neuroscience. Although, further research is necessary in speech production and cognitive function, research shows immediate and lasting improvements when music is employed in rehabilitation therapy since it has unique contribution to rehabilitation of brain-injured patients. Works Cited Aldridge, David. Music Therapy and Neurological Rehabilitation: Performing Health. London: J. Kingsley Publishers, 2005. Print. Francisco, Rubio, et al. "Music-Supported Therapy Induces Plasticity In The Sensorimotor Cortex In Chronic Stroke: A Single-Case Study Using Multimodal Imaging (Fmri-TMS)." Brain Injury 25.7/8 (2011): 787-793. Print. Jane, Davidson W, et al. "The Role Of Music Therapy In An Interdisciplinary Approach To Address Functional Communication In Complex Neuro-Communication Disorders: A Case Report." Disability And Rehabilitation 28.19 (2006): 1221-1229. Print. Magee, Wendy L. "Music Therapy With Patients In Low Awareness States: Approaches To Assessment And Treatment In Multidisciplinary Care." Neuropsychological Rehabilitation 15.3/4 (2005): 522-536. Print. Moreno, Sylvain. "Can Music Influence Language And Cognition?." Contemporary Music Review 28.3 (2009): 329-345. Print. Weintraub, Michael I, Ravinder Mamtani, and Marc S. Micozzi. Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Pain Management. New York: Springer Pub. Co, 2008. Print. Read More