Music/Music Therapy

The focus of this article is how music/music therapy can lead to improved brain function in patients who are in a vegetative state or a minimally conscious state. According to the article, vegetative state is defined as “a state in which patients exhibit a lack of awareness of external stimuli, but with preservation of sleep–wake cycles and vital vegetative functions (such as cardiac action, respiration and maintenance of blood pressure) while remaining completely unaware of both self and environment”(Okumura et al). It also defines a minimally conscious state as “A state in which patients show more than reflex responsiveness but remain unable to communicate their thoughts and feelings and differs from a VS by the presence of inconsistent but clearly discernible behavioral
evidence of awareness of self or environment, often responding purposefully to sensory stimuli and/or responding to commands” (Okumura et al).
In today’s world, music can be heard just about anywhere and is often looked at as a positive experience.
Some would even say that it is the soundtrack to our lives and certain music can bring back certain memories or emotions for people. Other than being a part of our day to day culture, music is now being used as a method of therapy for people who have medical disorders such as schizophrenia, walking impairment due to acquired brain injury, depression and autism. The relation between the therapeutic effects and the exact neuronal mechanisms isn't quite understood yet. The Chubu Medical Center for Prolonged Traumatic Brain Dysfunction at Kizawa Memorial Hospital is a medical center for the treatment and medical care of patients with prolonged consciousness impairment after severe traumatic brain injury due to traffic accidents. This medical center now incorporates music therapy to help stimulate and awake patients with years of consciousness impairment. The good news is that there has been some correlation with physical responses and the music for patients in MCS, although, no studies have been made that show brain activation following music ¬related exercises in patients who are in VS or
MCS.
The study in this article was designed to asses which neuroanatomical sites could be activated by music using bass sound stimulation (BSS), Instrument sound stimulation (ISS), and musical stimulation (MS). These 3 audio stimulations were combined into 3 different tasks; In task I BSS was played for 30 seconds, Task II BSS was played for 15 seconds with BSS and ISS for 15 seconds, and Task III involved 15 seconds of BSS followed by BSS and MS for 15 seconds. These task were synchronized with image scanning utilizing a stimulation¬ synchronization software. The topographical results were compared with emphasis on highlighting the differences in brain activity between healthy adults, patients in a VS, and patients in a MCS. The participants were 21 right ¬handed healthy adults, which consisted of 11 males and 10 females and none of them had a history of psychiatric nor neurological disorders. The results show that there were changes in brain activity for patients in MCS and very little to none for patients in VS.
In conclusion, these researchers have found that the bilateral temporal gyri and other parts of the brain were significantly activated in task III compared to both task I, and II. This article will lead to more in depth studies that will further the scientific understanding of how music contributes to brain activity in patients suffering from prolonged consciousness impairment. In some ways, these studies could also unlock new ways patients can be healed through music therapy.