They Don't Know It's Therapy

Music therapy is so enjoyable that the elderly clients at the daycare center do not even know it is therapy. When the music starts, not only do their faces but entire bodies light up. That in itself is therapy-- increasing attention and alertness in individuals who have lost the normal ability to focus and concentrate. This is a technique known as Musical Sensory Orientation Training (MSOT), where music is used facilitate responsiveness and awareness of person, time, and place.

The therapists play fun and challenging games with the clients that are designed to improve different aspects of physical and cognitive function. One of these is called “popcorn drumming,” where the participants sit in a large circle and the therapist, holding two hand drums, presents them at different heights for individuals to hit with their hands. She does it in quick succession and can go to any person at any time, keeping the participants on their toes and maintaining high levels of concentration. This game employs a technique called Therapeutic Instrumental Music Performance (TIMP), which stimulates functional patterns of movement and orients the participant to their position as they reach out to hit a drum. It is meant to improve range of motion and limb coordination, as well as engage the participant mentally.

On Wednesday the therapist let me have a go at it, moving the drums all around for me to hit as fast as possible. I noticed the experience is very similar to the phone app Piano Tiles where you must tap the black tiles as fast as possible before they leave the screen. The app engages the player in the exact same way as popcorn drumming engages the participants, except popcorn drumming has the added aspect of space as well. It is a surprisingly fun challenge!

Other examples of TIMP are foot placement or tapping and leg movement. The videos below show how this incorporates music. The steady timing and beat of each movement allows for strengthened cognitive planning and for the patient to overcome their difficulty in coordination. It also strengthens the muscles used in the process.

More to come soon!

Now for some Music

I realize I have been talking quite a bit about the brain, and not as much about music and how it relates to the brain!

While certain functions and senses of the human body are controlled by one or a few particular areas, music overlaps multiple systems across the entire brain. It engages motor, sensory, auditory, and visual cortices, as well as centers for behavior, decision-making, emotion, and memory. I find the diagram below particularly insightful.

Music affects components throughout the entire brain. So what? The real value of this knowledge lies in our ability to apply it practically. This is what neurologic music therapy does; it uses these neuroscience principles to treat people suffering from neurological injuries and disorders such as dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, epilepsy, brain tumors and aneurysms, and stroke. It has been proven to improve strength, motor coordination, cardiorespiratory fitness, gait, memory, attention, verbal expression, and motivation, as well as provide an outlet for self-expression and a source of enjoyment.

For the purpose of this project, the sessions I attend with the Neurological Music Therapy Services of Arizona involve primarily patients with Alzheimer's, Dementia, and Parkinson's. This way, I can understand the physiological mechanisms of these neurodegenerative diseases as well as how individuals can heal using music as a treatment.

Until next time!