April 20, 2006 HOW MUSIC AFFECTS YOUR BRAIN AND BODY When
you hear a march, can you sit still? How about a slow, romantic song or a
hip hop beat---want to dance? We may not like the same combinations of notes and rhythms, but we use music
to celebrate, attract, mourn and move. Music is being studied intensively today
as a means of improving and maintaining brain and body function. It has been
shown to be beneficial for: Research is in progress
at the Methodist Neurological Institute to determine which musical rhythms
are more therapeutic for Parkinson’s disease. Studies already have shown
that music therapy can have a greater impact than physical therapy on some
Parkinson’s
patients but Dr. Ron Tintner, a neurologist at Methodist is studying the
use of different rhythms to facilitate movement in people with debilitating
disease. “We already know that rhythm can make people move. The question:”Are
there particular rhythms that work better for these patients.” The researchers, supported
by a grant from The GRAMMY Foundation ®Grants
Program, want to determine which acoustic stimuli will help Parkinson’s
patients move and function better. Exactly how does music
work on your body? The sounds of music pass through your outer ear canal,
strike your ear drum, and pass as vibrations through fluid to stimulate your
auditory nerves, which then carry the message to your thalamus, your brain's
relay station for sensory information. The thalamus, in turn, sends the musical
stimuli to the area of your brain concerned with hearing. The auditory part
of your brain then processes the music so that you recognize the song you've
heard and its message stirs your memories or associations. This is a conscious
process. But the music also has an unconscious effect. Mediated by your thalamus,
the elements of music—pitch, rhythm, and intensity—directly
affect your autonomic nervous system, which regulates breathing, heart action,
motor function, and digestion. It also affects your hormones. If you still
doubt that music directly affects your brain, consider the dramatic cases of
patients with musicogenic epilepsy. Their brains are overexcited by certain
varieties of music, which cause them to have seizures. The gamut of stimuli
is wide ranging, from serene violin music to jazz. In one case, a woman was
affected by organ music. She tried to leave church before the instrument was
played, but sometimes she did not make it out the door. Music, if employed properly, is a readily available, highly effective tool
that you can use to improve both your brain function and physical abilities. The ancient Greeks knew that. They worshipped Apollo, god of healing and
music, and believed each musical mode, rhythm, and instrument created its own
special response. Modern medical practitioners have only recently found out
that the Greeks were right. In fact, there are now music therapists who use
their skills to aid the disabled. Brain, Muscle, and Music Work Together Researchers at Stanford University , Stanford , California , set out to determine
just how brain, muscle, and music work together to achieve greater ease of
movement. Monica Grenier Safranek, Gail Koshland, and Gay Raymond, Stanford
researchers first studied the electrical patterns emanated by flexion and extension
of the elbow in women eighteen to thirty-five years of age while performing
a motor task without listening to rhythm. The subjects were asked to hit three
targets in the following pattern: Target I, one time; Target 2, three times;
Target 3, two times. Each woman, the Stanford researchers reported, had their
own personal rhythm. They practiced the target hitting until they became skilled
at it. The Stanford investigators point out that one assumption made about
a skilled motor performance is that it reflects the most efficient recruitment
of motor units (nerves and muscles that work together) because these units
are activated more quickly and in greater synchronization than during unskilled
performance. When an even rhythm was played, the electrical signals recorded from the
elbow muscles were decreased and created a more even pattern. When an uneven
rhythm was played, the signals from the elbow muscles increased and were irregular,
in a pattern similar to when a person is unskilled at a motor task. The researchers
concluded that an even rhythm aids efficiency in movement and produces action
similar to that usually seen in skilled performance of motor tasks. Rhythm and tempo are not
only useful in coordinating muscle ac tion,
they are also a means for altering mood. We use music and voice for biofeedback
training at the New Jersey Neurological Institute. For some the use of fast
rhythm and marching tempo have a negative effect. One subject asked that
the music be changed to a more classical type because "my daughter plays
that fast, loud, music and it bothers me!" While rhythm and tempo
have an effect on the brain and body, one person’s
music may still be another person’s noise. That is one reason why one
of the objectives at The Methodist Neurological Institute is to create a device
tailored to each Parkinson’s patient’s needs, Dr. Tinter said. ### PATCH UP THOSE WRINKLES Just when you think they
can’t
come with anything new in the booming anti-aging cosmetic market, Israeli
and South Korean companies have gotten together to promote what they claim
is a first---an anti-aging patch that targets specific areas of the face. The Age Away Program Patch
is based on an Israeli-based technology which comprises a thin flexible battery
into a “Power Patch” combined
with Korea’s Amore Pacific’s Hera Spot Serum that target specific
areas of facial wrinkling. The claim is that the
anti-aging patch is self-activating when applied to the skin and delivers
a mild direct current to the upper layers of the dermis. This reportedly
provides “an
immediate reduction in the appearance of wrinkles as well as providing long-term
efficacy. “ Estee Lauder has already
launched its version of this application technology in the United States
and calls it “The Perfectionist Power Correcting
Patch for Deeper Lines and Wrinkles.” It is sold on the Internet by various
sites from 99 cents to $100. Estee Lauder is just putting the patch on the
European market. The Korean company, Amore, is the first to launch the anti-wrinkle
patch in the Asia Pacific Region. By the way, we have a
cat called “Patches” because
he has black and white markings. Whether the new pricey anti-wrinkle patches
will be worth more than we paid for our Patches is yet to be determined.
He was free from the pound.
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