While music therapy is widely seen as a recreational asset for patients, new research in neuroscience is illuminating how it can treat disorders and diseases, including Parkinson’s, cerebral palsy and dementia.
Music training can strengthen connections between the brain’s auditory and motor regions as well as help with “plasticity,” or the ability of the brain to reorganize its neural circuitry, a 2010 study in The Neuroscientist found. Plus, according to the study, music making has potential as an interactive treatment for neurological and developmental disorders — a finding that came as no surprise to music therapists.
“Only in the past 15 years is the scientific community showing that the brain does have the capacity to change,” said Dr. Concetta Tomaino. When she and Dr. Oliver Sacks co-founded the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1995, they had a hard time convincing scientists to do research studies on music and the brain. “At that time, scientists said that you couldn’t expect anyone to recover brain function,” Tomaino said. “But now we know the brain can develop new networks that lead to learning new aspects of functioning that may have been lost to brain injury or disease.”
Because music processing stimulates both hemispheres of the brain and is pervasive in so many facets of its functioning, it can help someone who has lost an ability, like speaking or moving, to develop a new neural path. For example, patients with Parkinson’s may not be able to initiate movement by their selves, but often can if asked to move to music. “The stimulation of the auditory system also stimulates motor areas in the brain and allows the person to jump-start the movement without having to think about it,” Tomaino said.
Music therapy can help patients with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia regain lost memories and learn new information. By listening and responding to familiar songs, patients can access memories that may have been long forgotten. The therapy also encourages eye contact, singing, clapping and other physical responses.
When Jennifer Cratty of Bronxville, N.Y., was 2, she underwent neurosurgery related to her cerebral palsy. As part of her recovery, she worked with music therapist Dr. Tina Brecia. Although Jennifer had never spoken, soon after starting music therapy she began talking. “The music really motivated her to start vocalizing and speaking,” said Brecia, who works at the Music Therapy Institute in White Plains, N.Y. “Jennifer had songs that she knew and she was so motivated to fill in the words that she just had to get the sounds out.”
Now 24, Jennifer recently graduated college with an associate’s degree in communications and media arts. “This wouldn’t have been possible without music therapy,” said her father, Tom Cratty. He and his wife were so impressed with the results of Jennifer’s music therapy that in 1992 they founded Heartsong, a nonprofit music and arts therapy program for children with disabilities.
Music therapy also can benefit terminal ill people during their last stages of life, according to a study published this year in the journal Music and Medicine. Patients worked with two musicians and advanced student music therapists, often with other family members present, and engaged in singing, songwriting and other interactive exercises. “At the end of their life, they were making deep connections with family members through music making,” said the study’s author Sandi Curtis, a professor of music therapy at Concordia University in Montreal. The music helped with enhancing mood and quality of life and was an effective tool for pain management, her study also found.
But it may take some time before insurance companies catch up to the science behind music therapy. “We’re still at the point where insurance often doesn’t reimburse for music therapy treatment,” Tomaino said. “Until then, we will struggle with making services available to a broader spectrum of people.”
Music training can strengthen connections between the brain’s auditory and motor regions as well as help with “plasticity,” or the ability of the brain to reorganize its neural circuitry, a 2010 study in The Neuroscientist found. Plus, according to the study, music making has potential as an interactive treatment for neurological and developmental disorders — a finding that came as no surprise to music therapists.
“Only in the past 15 years is the scientific community showing that the brain does have the capacity to change,” said Dr. Concetta Tomaino. When she and Dr. Oliver Sacks co-founded the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in the Bronx, N.Y., in 1995, they had a hard time convincing scientists to do research studies on music and the brain. “At that time, scientists said that you couldn’t expect anyone to recover brain function,” Tomaino said. “But now we know the brain can develop new networks that lead to learning new aspects of functioning that may have been lost to brain injury or disease.”
Because music processing stimulates both hemispheres of the brain and is pervasive in so many facets of its functioning, it can help someone who has lost an ability, like speaking or moving, to develop a new neural path. For example, patients with Parkinson’s may not be able to initiate movement by their selves, but often can if asked to move to music. “The stimulation of the auditory system also stimulates motor areas in the brain and allows the person to jump-start the movement without having to think about it,” Tomaino said.
Music therapy can help patients with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia regain lost memories and learn new information. By listening and responding to familiar songs, patients can access memories that may have been long forgotten. The therapy also encourages eye contact, singing, clapping and other physical responses.
When Jennifer Cratty of Bronxville, N.Y., was 2, she underwent neurosurgery related to her cerebral palsy. As part of her recovery, she worked with music therapist Dr. Tina Brecia. Although Jennifer had never spoken, soon after starting music therapy she began talking. “The music really motivated her to start vocalizing and speaking,” said Brecia, who works at the Music Therapy Institute in White Plains, N.Y. “Jennifer had songs that she knew and she was so motivated to fill in the words that she just had to get the sounds out.”
Now 24, Jennifer recently graduated college with an associate’s degree in communications and media arts. “This wouldn’t have been possible without music therapy,” said her father, Tom Cratty. He and his wife were so impressed with the results of Jennifer’s music therapy that in 1992 they founded Heartsong, a nonprofit music and arts therapy program for children with disabilities.
Music therapy also can benefit terminal ill people during their last stages of life, according to a study published this year in the journal Music and Medicine. Patients worked with two musicians and advanced student music therapists, often with other family members present, and engaged in singing, songwriting and other interactive exercises. “At the end of their life, they were making deep connections with family members through music making,” said the study’s author Sandi Curtis, a professor of music therapy at Concordia University in Montreal. The music helped with enhancing mood and quality of life and was an effective tool for pain management, her study also found.
But it may take some time before insurance companies catch up to the science behind music therapy. “We’re still at the point where insurance often doesn’t reimburse for music therapy treatment,” Tomaino said. “Until then, we will struggle with making services available to a broader spectrum of people.”
