Patients undergoing awake craniotomy often experience elevated levels of stress and anxiety. Music can have therapeutic benefits by altering human mood and emotion; its tonality conveyed through composition in major and minor keys can influence these shifts.
Most patients reported being satisfied with the music and found it soothing; however, they could not recall specific thoughts and emotions triggered by it.
Mood Modulation
Medical Resonance Therapy Music works to restore neuro-hormonal balance and support natural self-healing mechanisms in the body. Studies have shown it reduces stress, anxiety and depression while reinvigorating relaxation processes innate to your own relaxation processes – studies even indicate its efficacy when used alongside non-musical methods for cancer or chronic illness treatments.
Music’s mood-modifying properties largely rest on its ability to engage and influence the dopaminergic neural network (DMN), which is activated by its arousal effects. Arousal responses can be controlled using emotional valence of music or rhythmic stimuli which lead to altered states of consciousness. Music is increasingly being used as an effective treatment option for various conditions including cancer, headaches, high blood pressure, hormonal disorders as well as emotional disturbances like insomnia and anxiety.
Music can also provide relief for pain management in cancer patients, and has proven particularly effective. Music works by competing with pain impulses in the brain to cancel them out and changing perception of pain so it becomes less intense. Furthermore, music helps reduce nausea and discomfort as well as stimulating production of endorphins – the body’s feel good chemicals.
Research on the neurophysiological effects of music has demonstrated its stimulating and blood-flow-increasing properties, leading to activation of limbic arousal systems and increases in prefrontal cortical blood flow – which is associated with improved working memory, attention processing, semantic processing, target detection and motor imagery among healthy subjects. Music may also produce changes within hippocampus and prefrontal cortical areas by increasing BDNF production as well as improving social functioning for neurologically impaired populations.
Music’s therapeutic applications in medicine are vast, ranging from improving treatment response in cancer, pain management during surgery, mood enhancement in psychiatric disorders and anxiolysis for anxiety disorders to supporting neural rehabilitation after injury. An integrated biological understanding of human musicality including its functions, development, phylogeny and neural bases is necessary in order to advance rational uses of music in medicine.
Pain Relief
Research suggests that music may help alleviate pain by resetting cellular physiological rhythms, restoring neuro-hormonal balance and reinvigorating natural self-healing capabilities. Studies on hospitalized patients reveal that listening to music significantly reduced sedation intensity and frequency as well as ventilator dissynchrony and blood pressure fluctuations1.
One study discovered that music could be just as effective at alleviating burn-related pain than morphine in terms of pain management. Music works by competing with pain impulses in the brain and cancelling them out; additionally, music alters perception of intensity and unpleasantness of pain sensations as well as helping individuals feel more in control over the experience, thus alleviating stress and anxiety associated with painful events.
Music therapy also relieves pain by inducing the release of opioids. Listening to pleasurable music increases opiate receptors in the brain and spinal cord, thus decreasing pain signals reaching the brain. Furthermore, music has also been proven to alter activity related to pain-related activity within brainstem, thalamus, and amygdala – but these alone cannot explain all its positive impacts on pain reduction reported through music therapy.
Notably, the descending analgesia pathway in the spinal cord is activated by similar mechanisms as those responsible for opioid release, suggesting that music could play a significant role in relieving pain caused by opioids production as well as helping treat addiction to opioids.
Studies have proven the efficacy of music therapy in alleviating pain for various patient populations. Studies have particularly highlighted its effectiveness for managing trauma- and cancer-related pain as well as burn injuries. Furthermore, music can also provide emotional comfort for individuals going through medical procedures or illness as well as lessen post-operative pain and nausea severity.
Studies examining the benefits of music on pain have provided conflicting results; while some suggest its positive effects are mediated by cognitive processes like attention, others have used functional MRI to analyze neural responses during noxious stimuli and demonstrate that pain response is controlled by limbic systems including DLPFC and PAG as well as neurotransmitters such as dopamine, b-endorphin and oxytocin. It seems the effects of music on pain tolerance vary according to various factors including pre-session mood states, type and tempo of music played during each session session.
Anxiety Relief
Medical resonance therapy music can provide comfort to patients undergoing various medical procedures, particularly surgery. The music can be used pre-surgical testing or diagnostic imaging or just during the procedure to help relieve discomfort and ease tension without using harmful pharmaceuticals. It provides a natural way of soothing pain and anxiety without resorting to pharmaceutical drugs.
Medical resonance therapy music can do more than relieve generalized anxiety and increase relaxation; it can also enhance one’s mood and emotional equilibrium. The music features specific rhythms, harmonies and melodies designed to resonate with the natural frequencies within our bodies; these resonances may have therapeutic benefits in alleviating conditions like anxiety, stress, depression insomnia fatigue.
One of the most effective methods of relieving anxiety in patients is rhythmic entrainment, which involves aligning biorhythms such as heart rate with live music of similar tempo. This technique is widely employed in music therapy to reduce stress and has even shown promise as an approach for improving mood in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
MGRB was created through an exploratory mixed-methods study involving music therapy experts, healthy subjects and a professional composer. The objective was to ascertain which of two pieces of music provided optimal musical characteristics and whether their use would have any effects on psychological or physical states in future clinical applications.
Results from substudy III indicated that MGRB had its intended effects in healthy subjects: stimulating interoceptive perception and autonomously decreasing breathing tempo. Subjects reported finding the two pieces of music soothing, helping them forget time, place, or participation in scientific experiment.
Hypnosis can also help alleviate anxiety by creating deep relaxation through its use as a form of psychotherapy. A hypnotherapy session typically puts patients in a deep state of relaxation to break through mental barriers that prevent them from experiencing positive emotions, such as fear and trust. Hypnosis provides a safe, noninvasive means to relieve symptoms associated with anxiety while complementing traditional medicine in treating it effectively.
Depression Relief
Depression often manifests itself through feelings of meaninglessness and inadequacy; music’s therapeutic qualities can help alleviate this. Music also stimulates production of the neurotransmitter oxytocin which regulates feelings of love and belonging – making it an especially potent treatment option for depression sufferers. Furthermore, music has been found to lower stress levels and anxiety by altering brain response to stimuli – further contributing factors of depression.
One study demonstrated that participants suffering from psoriasis found significant relief listening to relaxing music – an improvement which corresponded with reduced cortisol levels. Researchers also discovered that patients suffering from anorexia who attended weekly interactive music therapy sessions reported decreased appetite and weight loss over three months time, as well as studies exploring its effect on anhedonia (inability to feel enjoyment or pleasure) experienced that music-based treatments can decrease its symptoms while improving quality of life compared to control groups.
Many of these advantages can be attributed to our brain’s positive response to rhythmic stimulation – known as entrainment. Listening to steady beats activates motor nerves in the brain to trigger muscle movement while listening to music can sync our heartbeats with drum beats synchronizing our heartbeats with drumming tempos; this effect could help facilitate quicker sleep with soothing music or singing along to favorite tunes.
Medical resonance therapy music can also be used to treat other conditions and symptoms such as pain, insomnia, fatigue and muscle tension. Furthermore, studies have demonstrated its benefits in helping bolster immunity, regulate blood pressure and hormone levels and boost immunity; additionally it often goes hand-in-hand with traditional medical treatments like chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
Medical resonance therapy music proponents advocate it as an innovative, natural treatment option that can complement traditional medicine or be taken alone as a stand-in remedy. Unfortunately, research supporting these claims has yet to fully incorporate into clinical practice; more rigorous study must be performed in order to ensure results are valid and clinically applicable; research should seek out appropriate musical treatments based on levels of social functioning and anxiety in each individual case.
