After Russian researchers discovered that music can prompt the brain to produce those beneficial alpha waves, Dr. Galina Mindlin, a neuro-psychiatrist who teaches at Columbia University in New York City, introduced music therapy for the brain to the United States.
About a year ago, osteopathic Dr. David Moore started using the treatment for patients in his Chicago practice who were suffering from insomnia and anxiety. He takes an electroencephalogram of the wave patterns of their sensory motor strip and frontal lobe while they are relaxed. The test results then are used to create therapeutic music, but not just any generic soundtrack.
"Each person has their own unique EEG pattern that is as individual as their fingerprints, so the Russian scientists created an algorithm to create music for each individual," Moore explained.
Patients receive a recording of their one-of-a-kind composition, which is similar to classical piano music, and use headphones to listen to it. One musical message calms the brain so it's easy for patients to concentrate; another melody slows the brain down even more so they can drift off to sleep.
"Ancient peoples knew about the healing power of music, but we've lost our intuitive sense, and we're searching to reconnnect with it," Moore said. He has followed up with about 60 of the 110 patients he has treated with "brain music therapy," as it's called, and 85 percent of them reported that they have improved.
The Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter, based in Glenview, offers a different kind of music therapy for terminally ill patients. Therapist Pat Harthun, who sings and plays guitar, said, "The music helps patients express their feelings in a way that is much less threatening than talk therapy, and it can also help with physical aspects such as reducing their pain, lowering their heart rate and blood pressure, and helping them to breathe more easily and relax."
Peace in the final hours
When a patient has only a day or two left to live, a music-thanatologist (from the Greek word for death) who plays a harp and sings or hums melodies can ease the final hours.
"It's not a concert, and we're not playing Bach," explained music-thanatologist Margaret Pasquesi. "We weave together musical elements in response to a patient's moment-to-moment changes with the purpose of alleviating physical, emotional and spiritual suffering, so the music is very individualized as the patient's respiration rate or agitation changes."
Katherine Rose knows firsthand about the power of music therapy and music-thanatology. Last August when her husband, Jay, vice chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Illinois Masonic Hospital, was dying from cancer, the couple turned to the Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter.
Converting a skeptic
"Jay was a bit skeptical about the alternative approach, but he was open to it," Rose recalled.
One of the CareCenter's music therapists, Deb Dempsey, went to the Roses' Chicago home. She asked Jay, who was 69, if there were any particular songs he wanted her to sing, and he suggested folk music from the '60s.
"Her songs kindled memories and triggered an incredible emotional release," Katherine recalled. "We could laugh, we could smile and we could cry."
For Dempsey's second visit, she learned to sing Jay's favorite song, "My Funny Valentine," and she played it again at the very end of her third visit when it was obvious that Jay had only days to live.
So in late September, as Jay's life slipped away, music-thanatologist Tony Pederson played the harp for the music vigil at the Roses' home, where friends and family gathered.
"Tony explained to Jay that he was there to help him on his final journey," Kate said. "The role of the music was stunning. You could watch Jay calm down and his breathing change, and we knew that we were witnessing something incredible and profoundly beautiful. It was an exquisite spiritual experience."
Objective: To test whether group music therapy is effective for improving depression, anxiety, and relationships in psychiatric patients.
Methods: Twenty six patients were non-randomly allocated to either a music intervention group or a routine care group. The music intervention group received 60 minutes of music intervention for 15 sessions (1 or 2 times weekly).
The outcomes were measured with Beck’s Depression Inventory, the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Relationship Change Scale.
Results: After 15 sessions, the music intervention group showed significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and relationships compared with the control group.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that music can improve depression, anxiety, and relationships in psychiatric patients. However, we cannot elucidate the nonspecific effects. Furthermore, objective and replicable measures are required from a randomized controlled trial with a larger sample size and an active comparable control.
Music As Medicine
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