Music therapy has already proven itself. But how it acts on the brain was still unclear. A new study explains how it works.
The benefits of music are no longer for rent. It can entertain us, make us dance, but also calm us down and put us in a good mood. In fact, music is so powerful that it is the basis of a type of therapy called music therapy. British researchers have discovered how the latter acts and functions on the brain. The results of the study are published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.
There are several types of sessions
The goal of music therapy is to improve the patient’s well-being and self-confidence. For this, there are several types of session: the music therapist can listen to relaxing music or the patient can play a musical instrument himself in order to express himself. There is another type of session, during which the therapist plays an instrument, and the patient describes the images that come to mind. This technique is called the Bonny Method in Music and Guided Imagery.
Determining when music therapy works
During a session, a music therapist aims to reach a “moment of change” during which he strengthens the bond with his patient. To really understand what’s going on, the researchers used hyperscanning, a method of recording the brain activities of two people simultaneously. This procedure “can show the tiny, if not imperceptible, changes that occur during treatment”, explains Professor Jörg Fachner, lead author of the study. After the recordings were completed, the researchers asked the therapist and the patient to watch the video of the session, while indicating three moments of change.
Synchronization of thoughts
When the researchers analyzed the brain activity of the patient and the therapist, they could clearly see these moments of change, in other words when a negative emotion transformed into a positive emotion. Moreover, they discovered that these moments were the same for the patient and for the therapist. Even more surprising: these were the sequences that everyone had mentioned while watching the session. Not only were their thoughts synchronized, but their brain activity was too!
Improving the therapeutic approach
For Professor Fachner, this study is a “milestone in research in music therapy”. Further research is needed to see if this connection between therapist and patient through music is systematic. For the researcher, this study not only proves the effectiveness of this therapeutic method, but it opens the way to improving this approach. “By highlighting the specific points where the sessions worked best, this could be particularly useful when treating patients for whom verbal communication is difficult,” concludes Jörg Fachner.
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