Application of Music Therapy in General Surgical Treatment.

With the increasing application of music therapy in clinical practice, the effectiveness of music therapy in improving the negative emotions of patients, relieving pain, and adjusting the physiological state has also been receiving increasing recognization. Moreover, music therapy as adjuvant therapy for conventional treatment can achieve a better improvement in patient satisfaction and facilitate the acceptance of make music therapy by the medical industry. In addition to inevitable trauma, general surgery is criticized for its long treatment cycles and postoperative pain. With the continuous development of fast-track surgery (FTS), music therapy has received more attention in general surgical treatment. This study reviews the development history and prospects of music therapy in general surgery.

Why We Need a Music Player in Every Patient Room.

Music can influence clinicians' and patients' mental states and emotions via the capacity of rhythm and tone to entrain. Entrainment can facilitate relaxation and distraction from pain and has a role to play in experiences with and in health care. In this article, we discuss the benefits of music from the perspectives of a physician and a veteran.

Musicoterapia: dos fazeres biomédicos aos saberes sociocomunitários / Music therapy: from biomedical to social community / Musicoterapia: de los haceres biomédicos a los saberes sociocomunitários

Neste artigo apresentamos um panorama histórico dos aspectos teóricos e práticos da Musicoterapia, sobretudo os presentes nos cinco modelos mundialmente reconhecidos e oficializados de atuação, a saber: a Metodologia Benenzon, o Método Nordoff-Robbins, o Método de Imagens Guiadas e Música, o Método de Musicoterapia Analítica e o Modelo de Musicoterapia Behaviorista. Por meio de uma reflexão teórica que parte de uma seleção integrativa de literatura, analisamos a predominância de modelos de atuação regidos por propostas clínicas e/ou biomédicas de teoria e prática. Em seguida, apresentamos as especificidades e a emergência de saberes e fazeres sociais e comunitários em Musicoterapia para, por fim, propormos alguns apontamentos teórico-práticos no campo social e comunitário de atuação da Musicoterapia.

In this article we present a historical overview of the theoretical and practical aspects of Music Therapy, especially in the five world-renowned and officially recognized models of performance: Benenzon Methodology, Nordoff-Robbins Method, Guided Images and Music Method, Analytical Music Therapy and the Behaviorist Music Therapy Model. Through a theoretical reflection that starts from an integrative selection of literature, we analyze the predominance of actuation models governed by clinical and / or biomedical proposals of theory and practice. Next, we present the specificities of social and community knowledge and practices in Music Therapy to finally propose some theoretical-practical notes in the social and community field of music therapy practice.

En este artículo presentamos un panorama histórico de los aspectos teóricos y prácticos de la Musicoterapia. Sobre todo presente en los cinco modelos mundialmente reconocidos e oficializados de actuación, a saber: la Metodología Benenzon, el Método Nordoff-Robbins, el Método de Imágenes Guiadas y Música, el Método de Musicoterapia Analítica y el Modelo de Musicoterapia Behaviorista. Por medio de una reflexión teórica que parte de una selección integrativa de la literatura, analizamos el predominio de modelos de actuación regidas por propuestas clínicas y/o biomédicas de la teoría e práctica. A continuación, presentamos las especificidades y la emergencia de saberes y haceres sociales y comunitarios en Musicoterapia para, por fin, proponer algunos apuntes teórico-prácticos en el campo social y comunitario de actuación de la Musicoterapia.

History of Music Therapy and Its Contemporary Applications in Cardiovascular Diseases.

Contrary to what is commonly believed, music therapy is an old cure, the use of which is lost in the mists of time. Music always has been perceived to have particular healing powers, and the entire history of civilization contains aspects that link music to physical and mental healing. It seems that the adoption of music for therapeutic purposes harks back to a distant past, probably since the Paleolithic period: it was believed that listening to music could affect the behavior of human beings. In later centuries, the concept of "musical organ-tropism" was born and developed, because according to the type of music, one may affect the cardiovascular, respiratory, and neuroendocrine systems. Studies have shown that music can powerfully evoke and modulate emotions and moods, along with changes in heart activity, blood pressure, and breathing. Indeed, the following findings arise from the literature: heart and respiratory rates are higher in response to exciting music than in the case of tranquilizing music. In addition, music produces activity changes in brain structures (amygdala, hypothalamus, insular and orbitofrontal cortex) known to modulate heart function. This article provides a careful overview of music therapy history from prehistory to the present and a review of the latest applications of music therapy in cardiovascular diseases.

Travels with Charlie.

Playing woodwind instruments has long been shown to assist those with asthma; now playing the didgeridoo is also found to help.

Music as therapy in early history.

The notion of music as therapy is based on ancient cross-cultural beliefs that music can have a "healing" effect on mind and body. Explanations for the therapeutic mechanisms in music have almost always included cultural and social science-based causalities about the uses and functions of music in society. However, it is also important to note that the view of music as "therapy" was also always strongly influenced by the view and understanding of the concepts and causes of disease. Magical/mystical concepts of illness and "rational" medicine probably lived side by side for thousands of years. Not until the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries were the scientific foundations of medicine established, which allowed the foundations of music in therapy to progress from no science to soft science and most recently to actual brain science. Evidence for "early music therapy" will be discussed in four broad historical-cultural divisions: preliterate cultures; early civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Israel; Greek Antiquity; Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque. In reviewing "early music therapy" practice, from mostly unknown periods of early history (using preliterate cultures as a window) to increasingly better documented times, including preserved notation samples of actual "healing" music, five theories and applications of early music therapy can be differentiated.

An Enlightenment proposal for music therapy: Richard Brocklesby on music, spirit, and the passions.

In 1749, the London physician Richard Brocklesby (1722-1797) published his Reflections on Antient [sic] and Modern Musick, an essay that not only sought to compare these practices in terms of their effects, but also to gather evidence supporting the use of music in treating mania and other mental diseases. As might be expected, Brocklesby's discussion of music therapy has already received attention by authors looking back to the origins of this practice, not least because he offers an account of a successful musical cure that took place in his own time (Rorke, 2001). My chapter, however, seeks to broaden the discussion of the Reflections, in order to show how Brocklesby's projected musical cures fit into his larger worldview, one that was influenced as much by Plato and other ancient philosophers as it was by modern thinkers such as Isaac Newton and his followers. Brocklesby's argument was essentially that music acted as a link between the mind and body and therefore could restore their intrinsic harmony, a connection that was mediated by the animal spirits, which also served as the vehicle of the passions. The movements and proportions of music could arouse or quell the passions by their effect on these (imaginary) spirits, which flowed through the nerves and brain and acted as the agent for the mind or soul. I show how his account of music in antiquity led him to reflect on the way that music was perceived and responded to in his own time, both as a stimulus to mental and bodily action, and as a source of esthetic pleasure through the cultivation of musical taste.

Benjamin Franklin and his glass armonica: from music as therapeutic to pathological.

In 1762, Benjamin Franklin, then in London, wrote a letter to a colleague in Italy describing his latest invention, a musical instrument he called the "armonica," which was based on how rubbing a wet finger on the rims of wine glasses could produce musical tones. In contrast to earlier sets of wine glasses that could be tapped or rubbed, Franklin put a set of glass bowls differing in size on a horizontal rod turned by a food treadle, thus freeing both hands for touching the rotating glasses and allowing musicians to play more than two glasses at a time, as well as eliminating the nuisance of water tuning. Franklin played his instrument for pleasure, to manipulate the "passions" (emotions) and to treat melancholia. Nevertheless, late in his lifetime some individuals began to view glass armonica music differently, alleging it could cause nerve damage and mental problems. Here, we look at how Franklin used his glass armonica to manipulate the passions and examine what he must have thought about it supposedly causing health problems. We present Franklin as an empiricist, whose focus was more on results than theories; as an astute student of human behavior understanding the power of charms and other "nonsense"; and as a man of medicine living in an era when much was being attributed to the nerves, even though next to nothing was really known about the underlying nerve force.

Dementia and the Power of Music Therapy.

Dementia is now a leading cause of both mortality and morbidity, particularly in western nations, and current projections for rates of dementia suggest this will worsen. More than ever, cost effective and creative non-pharmacological therapies are needed to ensure we have an adequate system of care and supervision. Music therapy is one such measure, yet to date statements of what music therapy is supposed to bring about in ethical terms have been limited to fairly vague and under-developed claims about an improvement in well-being. This article identifies the relevant sense of wellbeing at stake in the question of dementia therapies of this type. In broad terms the idea is that this kind of therapy has a restorative effect on social agency. To the extent that music arouses a person through its rhythms and memory-inducing effects, particularly in communal settings, it may give rise to the recovery of one's narrative agency, and in turn allow for both carer and patient to participate in a more meaningful and mutually engaging social connection.

[Johann Sebastian Bach: life, oeuvre and his significance for the cardiology]. / Johann Sebastian Bach: Leben, Werke und seine Bedeutung für die Kardiologie.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on 1685 in Eisenach. By the time he turned 10, Bach found himself an orphan after the death of both of his parents. After working in Weimar, Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, and Köthen Bach signed a contract to become the new organist and teacher at St. Thomas Church Leipzig in 1723 and stayed there until his death. In 1749, Bach tried to fix his failing sight by having surgery the following year, but the operation ended up leaving him completely blind. Few months later, Bach suffered a stroke. He died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750. In recent years, there were some questions whether music of different styles can directly alter cardiovascular parameters, particularly by using Bach's music. In some studies it has been shown that cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, heart rate) are influenced by music. Listening to classic music (Bach) leads to positive erffects, also music by Italian composters. In contrast, "modern" music, vocal music or songs had no positive effects on cardiovascular parameters. In addition, positive effects on cardiovascular parameters and behavioural patters have been shown in an animal study recently, by Bach's music. Recent studies showed clearly that music influences cardiovascular parameters. It is obvious that classical music (Bach) has benefitial effects, both in humans and in animals. Therefore, the music of the "Thomaskantor" will improve both, quality of life and cardiovascular health.

Paula Lind Ayers: "song-physician" for troops with shell shock during World War I.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the therapeutic uses of music during the First World War. This historical study provides a biography of Paula Lind Ayers (1891-1974), a vocalist, actress, and YMCA Entertainer who became known as "the girl who could sing away shell shock." OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to describe Paula Lind Ayers' respite services during World War I and provide a contextual biography of her life. METHODS: The author conducted an exhaustive search regarding Paula Lind Ayers' life and her activities during World War I. Numerous databases were used to locate print sources. Libraries, archives, and organizations were consulted to obtain unpublished primary sources. The author evaluated materials via a recursive process that included corroborating evidence, assessing source reliability, and contextualizing information. Data were synthesized and analyzed for emergent themes. RESULTS: Findings suggest that Paula Lind Ayers developed a systematic approach using familiar, live singing that was effective in alleviating symptoms of shell shock. Her method was replicated by others overseas during World War I. After the war, she returned to a successful performance career until the Great Depression. No information was found about Ayers' life from the year 1929 until her death in 1974. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding Paula Lind Ayers' contribution to music therapy provides a deeper awareness of past therapeutic uses of music with soldiers who experienced shell shock. Such understanding helps shape the way we view the present conception of music therapy with veterans and how we might answer questions that will affect the future of the field.

[The discussion about the application and impact of music on depressive diseases throughout history and at present]. / Die Diskussion um die Anwendung und die Wirksamkeit von Musik bei depressiven Störungen in Geschichte und Gegenwart.

Music therapy is the customised application of music for therapeutic use. For the treatment of depression it is mostly applied within a multimodal therapeutic approach. Since music was already used in prehistoric societies to cure diseases, it can be considered as a traditional therapy. As early as the antiquity physicians discussed the kind of music, the duration and frequency of its application. In the 19th century the pioneers of modern scientific psychiatry began to follow these questions with empirical experimental research. Since the 20th century, research has been investigating the influence of music on biological and psychological parameters. Current studies show that music therapy appears to improve symptoms of depression, especially in combination with antidepressants. Due to the limited number of randomised studies, the validity of its efficiency is limited. Further research is necessary to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding music therapy for the treatment of depression.

Music as a therapy: role in psychiatry.

Music is popularly believed to usher in bliss and serenity, and healing is considered its natural quality. It has an emotionally charging charisma of its own, that we all as listeners might have experienced at times. Music has been there with mankind since the beginning of history, but where does it stand as a therapy? Is there any evidence base? How this therapy came into being and how it has evolved, and what the old and current research says about its role in psychiatric disorders. This review tries to explore these questions and arrives at a conclusion that music certainly promises more than just entertainment, and evidence so far suggests music therapy can be beneficial in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, as a cost effective noninvasive adjunct to standard therapy in a variety of settings and patient groups, yet more validated scientific research is still required to establish it as a sole quantified therapy.