Neuroplasticity changes of rat brain by musical stimuli during fetal period

Fetal development of the central nervous system is an important and sensitive stage which is affected by many external and internal stimuli. This study aimed to investigate effect of musical stimuli on fetal rat brain. In this experimental study, twelve female Wistar rats were selected and evenly assigned to control and musical groups. The females were mated with a male rat of the same genotype. Musical group was exposed to classic music with 60 dB power for 90 minutes twice per day from 2[nd] to 20[th] day of gestation. The control rats were handled similar to the musical group, but were not exposed to music. Before parturition, all the dams were anesthetized, and their blood samples were obtained and used for corticosterone [COS] measurement. They were transcardially perfused by electron microscope [EM] fixative agent. The fetal brains were extracted intact and used for slice preparation. Horizontal slices were made for electron microscope preparation, and images were taken and analyzed in terms of cell density and morphological changes. EM observation indicated significant morphological difference in cellular and intercellular spaces between the two groups. Music-treated fetuses had significantly higher cell density in parietal cortex and music-treated dams had lower COS level. It was concluded that prenatal music would have a great impact on neuroplasticity of fetal rat brain, at least indirectly. Although the rat fetuses cannot hear until birth, music-induced reduction in COS blood level of dams might be the reason for neuroplasticity of fetal brain

Effect of phase III cardiac rehabilitation and relaxation on the quality of life in patients with cardiac syndrome X

Cardiac syndrome X is a relatively common disorder, and still not much is known about the causative factors or its pathophysiology, which makes it difficult to cure. Due to its chronic nature and debilitating symptoms, many patients have significantly reduced quality of life [QOL].The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of phase III cardiac rehabilitation [CR] and relaxation on the QOL of patients. This research is a randomized clinical trial study. Forty eligible and consenting women [age 30-65 years] were randomly assigned to four groups. In the first group [n = 11], progressive muscle relaxation [PMR]; in the second group [n = 11], phase III CR; and in the third group [n = 11], PMR along with phase III CR were performed for 8 weeks at home. The fourth group [n = 7] was used as the control group. Short form of QOL questionnaire [SF 36] was used for data gathering.Data analysis was performed using X[2], Kruskal-Wallis, and rank sum difference tests. After phase III CR, relaxation, and combination of CR and relaxation, patients demonstrated improved QOL [P < 0.001]. The results of post test multiple comparisons showed that there were statistically significant differences between control and all intervention groups [P < 0.05]. There was also statistically significant difference between relaxation and combination of phase III CR and relaxation groups [P < 0.5]. An 8 week phase III CR program together with relaxation improved QOL of patients with cardiac syndrome X. We suggest phase III CR program together with relaxation as an effective treatment in these patients.