Music training alters the course of adolescent auditory development

Fundamental changes in brain structure and function during adolescence are well-characterized, but the extent to which experience modulates adolescent neurodevelopment is not. Musical experience provides an ideal case for examining this question because the influence of music training begun early in life is well-known. We investigated the effects of in-school music training, previously shown to enhance auditory skills, versus another in-school training program that did not focus on development of auditory skills (active control). We tested adolescents on neural responses to sound and language skills before they entered high school (pretraining) and again 3 y later. Here, we show that in-school music training begun in high school prolongs the stability of subcortical sound processing and accelerates maturation of cortical auditory responses. Although phonological processing improved in both the music training and active control groups, the enhancement was greater in adolescents who underwent music training. Thus, music training initiated as late as adolescence can enhance neural processing of sound and confer benefits for language skills. These results establish the potential for experience-driven brain plasticity during adolescence and demonstrate that in-school programs can engender these changes.By age six, the brain has reached 90% of its adult size (1). However, the years between childhood and young adulthood are marked by a host of subtler neural developments. Myelination and synaptic pruning (2–5) lead to a decrease in gray matter and an increase in white matter (6–13). Resting-state oscillations decline (14–16), and passive evoked responses to sound change in complex ways. Cortically, the P1, which is a positive deflection at around 50 ms generated within lateral Heschl’s gyrus (17), declines whereas the N1, a negative deflection at around 100 ms generated within primary and secondary auditory cortices (18–20), increases (21–23). Subcortically, the trial-by-trial consistency of the response declines (24, 25). An open question is how experience interacts with this developmental plasticity during adolescence. Is the transition from the plasticity of childhood to the stability of adulthood malleable by experience? And if so, what types of enrichment have the greatest impact on the development of the neural mechanisms contributing to auditory and language skills?Music training is an enrichment program commonly available to high school students, and its neural and behavioral consequences are well-understood (for a review, see ref. 26). Studies comparing nonmusicians with musicians who began training early in life have revealed a “signature” set of enhancements associated with musical experience (27, 28). Relative to nonmusician peers, musicians tend to show enhanced speech-in-noise perception (29–34), verbal memory (30–33, 35–38), phonological skills (39–45), and reading (46–50), although not without exception (51, 52). Music training has also been linked to enhancements in the encoding of sound throughout the auditory system. For example, musicians show an enhanced N1 (53–56). These enhancements extend to the subcortical auditory system, with musicians showing responses to sound that are faster (55, 57–61), are degraded less by background noise (32, 61), represent speech formant structure more robustly (32, 62–64). differentiate speech sounds to a greater extent (65–67), track stimulus pitch more accurately (68, 69), and are more consistent across trials (59, 70). In adolescence, music training leads to faster responses to speech in noise (71), but the extent to which adolescent music training can confer other aspects of the musician signature remains unknown.Motivated by a conceptual framework in which auditory enrichment interacts with the auditory processes that remain under development during adolescence, we undertook a school-based longitudinal study of adolescent auditory enrichment. We focused on objective biological measures of sound processing that (i) have shown developmental plasticity during adolescence in the absence of intervention and (ii) contribute to the “neural signature” of musicianship: the consistency of the subcortical response to speech and the magnitude of the cortical onset response to speech. Subcortical response consistency peaks in childhood, waning into young adulthood (24), coinciding with a period when learning a second language becomes more difficult than earlier in life (72). Response consistency tracks with language skills (73) and is enhanced in musicians (59, 70). Accordingly, we predicted that music training in adolescence prolongs this period of heightened auditory stability. Moreover, given that the cortical N1 onset response emerges during adolescence while the P1 response declines (17, 18, 21–23), and that N1 is enhanced in younger and older musicians (53–56), we predicted that music training during adolescence would accelerate the development of the cortical onset response.To test these hypotheses, we followed two groups of high school students longitudinally, testing them just before they entered high school (mean age 14.7) and again 4 y later during their last year of school. One group (n = 19) engaged in music training in which they performed music from written notation in a group setting whereas the active control group (n = 21) engaged in Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) training. Both types of training required investment of time and effort and emphasized the development of self-discipline, dedication, and determination; however, only the music training targeted auditory function. Both activities were part of the high school curriculum, which was otherwise identical for both groups. We also tested students’ language skills (phonological memory, phonological awareness, and rapid naming ability) to determine whether in-school music engendered benefits for literacy skills, a prediction consistent with cross-sectional studies (39–45). The two groups were matched demographically and on all outcome measures at the start of the study (see

Mild Asthmatics Benefit from Music Therapy

Objective. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation with music therapy in patients with asthma. Methods. Seventy-six selected inpatients (54 women and 22 men; mean age = 56.4 years; SD = 11.8) with stable asthma underwent pulmonary rehabilitation in two groups: standard versus music therapy. Results. After the intervention, an increase in analyzed spirometric values (forced expiratory volume at the first second (FEV₁), FEV₁ as a percentage of vital capacity (FEV₁ % FVC), forced expiratory flow at 25%, 50%, and 75% of vital capacity (FEF₂₅, FEF₅₀, and FEF₇₅, respectively), and peak expiratory flow) was observed in both the groups (p < .05) but without any intergroup differences (p > .05). A greater increase of mean FEV₁ % FVC, FEF₅₀, and FEF₇₅ values was observed only in the patients with mild asthma from the music therapy group (p < .05). In both the groups, a dyspnea reduction was noted (p < .001). However, it was influenced neither by the type of rehabilitation nor by the gender (p > .05), but the interaction of these variables was significant (p = .044). A dyspnea reduction was observed in women in both the groups (p < .001) and in men in the music therapy group only (p = .001). A change in the value of anxiety (6.43, SD = 7.73) on the 10th day compared with the first day of the study was noticed (p < .001). However, this change was not influenced by the type of rehabilitation, gender, or a combination of these two variables (p > .05). Conclusion. Music therapy improves the respiratory function in patients with mild asthma and reduces dyspnea mainly in men with asthma.     

Music–color associations are mediated by emotion

Experimental evidence demonstrates robust cross-modal matches between music and colors that are mediated by emotional associations. US and Mexican participants chose colors that were most/least consistent with 18 selections of classical orchestral music by Bach, Mozart, and Brahms. In both cultures, faster music in the major mode produced color choices that were more saturated, lighter, and yellower whereas slower, minor music produced the opposite pattern (choices that were desaturated, darker, and bluer). There were strong correlations (0.89 < r < 0.99) between the emotional associations of the music and those of the colors chosen to go with the music, supporting an emotional mediation hypothesis in both cultures. Additional experiments showed similarly robust cross-modal matches from emotionally expressive faces to colors and from music to emotionally expressive faces. These results provide further support that music-to-color associations are mediated by common emotional associations.     

Music intervention on physiological and psychological responses of patients with cancer: A protocol for meta-analysis

Background:Cancer is a life-threatening condition and also one of the biggest challenges facing human health and the medical community. This meta-analysis was to investigate the effects of music intervention on physiological and psychological responses of patients with cancer.Methods and analysis:The following electronic databases will be searched from inception to December 2020: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Chinese Science and the Wanfang Database. We only included music intervention vs placebo in cancer patients and pooled results were summarized by STATA 12.0 software. Two investigators independently selected the studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted the data, and assessed the quality of the selected studies. The existence of statistical heterogeneity would be evaluated by Chi² test and its extension by the I² test (I² > 50% indicates high heterogeneity among studies). Publication bias was ruled out by funnel plot and statistically assessed by Begg test (P > .05 as no publication bias).Results:The study results will be published in relevant peer-reviewed journals and key findings will be presented at international scientific meetings.Conclusion:Our study aims to systematically assess the effects of music intervention in cancer patients, which will be provide clinical guidance for cancer patients.     

Music intervention improves the physical and mental status for patients with breast cancer: A protocol of randomized controlled trial

Background:Breast cancer is the most familiar cancer and the major cause of the cancer death in women worldwide. The breast cancer patients may suffer from severe mental and physical trauma. At present, there are few studies on the music therapy for patients with breast cancer. The objective of our paper is to assess the effect of music intervention on mental and physical state of breast cancer patients.Methods:The experiment will be implemented from June 2021 to June 2022 at Jinan Central Hospital. The experiment was granted through the Research Ethics Committee of Jinan Central Hospital (no.08847765). The inclusion criteria requires that the age of female patients ranges from 25 to 65 years old, and the pathological diagnosis of breast cancer requires radical mastectomy (containing extensive radical mastectomy and modified radical mastectomy). Patients who do not like to listen to music or have severe debilitating diseases or are allergic to the sound will be excluded. Patients in the intervention group are given music intervention, and in control group, patients do not receive any information about the music therapy in the period of this study. The primary outcome is quality of life, psychological distress. The secondary outcomes are the heart rate, blood pressure, as well as Visual Analog Scale (VAS).Results:Table 1 will illustrate the postoperative outcomes after music interventions between groups.Conclusion:Music intervention can improve the mental and physical health of the breast cancer patients.Trial registration:This study protocol was registered in Research Registry (researchregistry6168).     

Effects of Stress in Early Life on Immune Functions in Rats With Asthma and the Effects of Music Therapy

Objective. Although studies have shown that psychological stress has detrimental effects on bronchial asthma, there are few objective data on whether early-life stress, as early postnatal psychosocial environment, has a long-lasting effect on adult asthma and the potential pathophysiologic mechanism. This study aims to examine the effects on immune function and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses in adult asthmatic rats that experienced stress in early life and the potential ameliorative effects of music therapy on these parameters. Methods. Forty male Wistar rat pups were randomly assigned to the asthma group, the adulthood-stressed asthma group, the childhood-stressed asthma group, the music group, and the control group. Restraint stress and Mozart's Sonata K.448 were applied to ovalbumin (OVA)-induced asthmatic rats to establish psychological stress and music therapy models. The levels of serum corticosterone were examined in both childhood after stress and adulthood after OVA challenge. Immune indicators in blood, lung, and brain tissues were measured after the last OVA challenge. Results. Stress in both childhood and adulthood resulted in increases in leukocyte and eosinophil numbers and serum interleukin (IL)-4 levels. The adulthood-stressed group demonstrated increased corticosterone levels after challenge, whereas the childhood-stressed group showed increased corticosterone concentration in childhood but decreased level in adulthood. Central IL-1β exhibited a similar tendency. Music group rats showed reduced serum IL-4 and corticosterone. Conclusions. Stress in childhood and adulthood resulted in different HPA axis responsiveness in the exacerbation of markers of asthma. These data provide the first evidence of the long-term normalizing effects of music on asthmatic rats.     

Music therapy-induced changes in behavioral evaluations, and saliva chromogranin A and immunoglobulin A concentrations in elderly patients with senile dementia

Objective:   To clarify music therapy-induced changes in behavioral evaluations, and saliva chromogranin A and immunoglobulin A concentrations in elderly patients with senile dementia.
Methods:   A music therapy group consisting of 8 elderly patients with dementia and a control group including eight similarly matched patients received a total of 25 1-h sessions of music therapy that were conducted twice weekly for 3 months. The Gottfries–Brane–Steen Scale, and the Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale were used to evaluate behavioral changes. Saliva chromogranin A and immunoglobulin A were used to assess changes in stress and immunological status, respectively.
Results:   On the Gottfries–Brane–Steen Scale, the mean score for "different symptoms common in dementia" improved significantly after music therapy. The mean Behavioral Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale score for "paranoid and delusional ideation" also significantly improved ( P  < 0.05) after the intervention. While immunoglobulin A was slightly increased prior to intervention, at the 25th session, mean chromogranin A was significantly decreased ( P  < 0.05).
Conclusion:   In this study, the Gottfries–Brane–Steen Scale, the Behavior Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease Rating Scale, and immunoglobulin A concentrations were shown to have been affected by music therapy. However, as the number of subjects was small, further research is required in order to fully clarify the effects of music therapy.     

The effects of sedative music, arousal music, and silence on electrocardiography signals

Introduction

Research indicates that music can affect heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductance. Music can stimulate central emotions in the brain and release biochemical materials that change the physiologic state. We sought to compare changes in the electrical function of the heart in response to music.

Method

Subjects were asked to listen to 2 types of music, namely, sedative and arousal music, in conjunction with two 30-second periods of complete silence. The experiment was conducted in 4 segments: the first and third parts were silence, and the second and fourth parts were music. First, the response to each type of music was compared with that to the preceding period of silence. Next, the responses to both types of music were compared. Finally, the response to music regardless of the type was compared with that to silence.

Results

The amplitude of polarization and depolarization changed in response to different kinds of music. The electrical function of the heart in response to music, irrespective of the music type, differed from that in response to silence. The 2 types of music impacted the electrical function of the heart in different ways: the arousal music influenced T-wave maximum amplitude, whereas no such change was recorded in response to the sedative music.

Conclusions

The bandwidth of the polarization and depolarization of the heart rate and R-wave amplitude increased in response to music by comparison with silence. In addition, the heart did not seem to try to synchronize with music. The mean R-wave amplitude in sedative music is higher than the arousal music, so our heart works differently when different types of music are heard.     

Music as Sleep Therapy

No abstract available for this article.     

Music Therapy and Gerontology

No abstract available for this article.