Download MindBody Imagery & Music

The Role of Music in
Linking Mind and Body
Sean Nolan RMT
Historical Context
Antiquity
Egypt (5000 BC) music healers
-
Privileged position in society
Influence with politicians and priests
Disease treated with chant therapies
Abu Terbo treated epilepsy with pipes chant
Music used during childbirth
Music = “medicine for the soul“
China (3000 BC)
- Prescribed personal tones
- Embodied heaven
- Energy formulae
“Music affects emotional and physical health”
Babylon (1850 BC)
- Disease = religious framework
- Music used in healing rites
- Music placated offended deity
Israel (1000 BC)
- King Saul: rages
- Harp music: receptive relaxation
Greece (429-384 BC)
Apollo: god of music and medicine
Plato: music = “medicine for the soul”
Aristotle: music affects emotions and
character
Music controlled by the State
Middle Ages – 19th Century
Music used in conjunction with medical treatment
- Melancholy
- Pain
- Unspecified respiratory diseases
- Despair, madness
- Attending concerts for 2 weeks prescribed (18th C)
- Powerful influence on the mind, affecting body (19th C)
Music = bringing mind and body into harmony
20th Century
- Music used with returning soldiers WW1 and WW2
- Psychological and physical conditions
- Pain management
- Insomnia
- Terminal illnesses
- Surgery
Current: Educational, institutional, behavioural,
psychotherapeutic and medical settings
Music = Food of neuroscience
Relaxation
State of profound rest
- Repetition
- Passive disregard for everyday thoughts
Techniques
- Diaphragmatic breathing
- Exercise
- Imagery
- Listening to music
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Yoga
Relaxing receptive music
Music as Therapy
- MAR is most popular application
- Elicits emotions (Limbic System)
- Facilitates change in emotions, mood, and body
- Stimulates relaxation response
Music and Imagery
- More effective when combined
- Stimulates cortical activity (Cognition)
- Stimulates learning
Common elements
- Slow, stable tempo
- Low volume level
- Consistent texture
- Absence of percussive and accented rhythms
- Gentle timbre
- Legato melodies
- Simple harmonic / chord progressions
Clinical Applications
- Decreased pre-operative anxiety
- Decreased perception of post-operative pain
- Decreased post-operative recovery time
- Decreased nausea during chemotherapy
- Decreased stress and state anxiety
- Induced relaxation response
Case studies
Olivia (10 yrs) : Non-specific abdomen pain: JHCH
Troy (17 yrs) : Broken bones (motor bike): JHCH
Rebecca (42) : Shoulder pain: D & A
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
Overview: Mind-Body Connection
Cortex
- Receives external sensory input
- Relays information to amygdala, hippocampus
- Relays information to hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
- Monitors external/internal change
- Mediates autonomic nervous, endocrine, immune systems
- Secretes “stress hormone” (CRH) to pituitary gland
- Sends neural impulses via SNS to adrenal glands (interior)
Pituitary gland
- Secretes ACTH to
adrenal glands (exterior)
Adrenal glands
- Manufacture and secrete more cortisol to hypothalamus and
immune cells in response to ACTH from pituitary gland
- Manufacture and secrete more adrenaline to heart and blood
vessels in response to neurotransmitters from hypothalamus
Cortisol
- Regulates stress response
in hypothalamus
- Regulates production and
efficiency of immune cells
Immune cells
- Attack external and internal invaders
- Release cytokines (Interleukin 1)
Natural Killer (NK) (purple)
Target cell
Killer T cells (blue)
Cancer cell
Mind-Body Response to Music
Processing music
Medulla (Brain stem)
- Controls autonomic functions (eg heart
rate, respiration)
- Rhythmic order = hypnotic effect
Reticular Formation (Brain stem)
- Regulates cortical electrical pulses
- Impacts entire cerebral cortex
Processing music (cont.)
Medial geniculate body (Thalamus)
- Activates limbic system and cortex
- Affects emotion and cognition
Hypothalamus
- Mediates Autonomic Nervous, Endocrine, and
Immune Systems
- Elicits neural, chemical and hormonal responses
Clinical Applications
Imagery: Increased immune function
Music: Increase in Interleukin 1,
decrease in cortisol
Music and imagery: Increased immune
function, decrease
in cortisol
Pain Management Strategies
Imagery and music designed to affect:
Pain sensors
Endorphin release (hypothalamus, pituitary gland)
“Pain tune” neurotags
Perceived danger
Virtual body
The Role of Music in
Linking Mind and Body
Sean Nolan RMT