Music & Rewiring the Brain with Neurologic Therapy By Greta Burroughs he healing power of music Initial research in music therapy has Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Par- has been acknowledged since shown that music can bring about: kinson’s diseases, as well as stroke and ancient times. Philosophers •Positive changes in attitude, brain injury patients to regain gross Tsuch as Plato, Aristotle, and Con- and fine motor functions, speech and mood, and emotional well-being fucius wrote about the soothing effects • A feeling of being more in con- language skills, along with memory of music to bring a person’s mental trol of life and cognition. and physical well-being back into •Greater awareness of self and At the forefront of neurologic balance and in harmony with nature. environment music therapy research is the Institute Little did they know their observa- •Reduction of anxiety and stress for Music and Neurologic Function tions would eventually blossom into a •Drug-free management of pain (IMNF), imnf.org/, co-founded on scientifically based branch of rehabili- and discomfort the works of neurologist and best-sell- tative medicine called “music therapy.” •Increased social interaction ing author, Oliver Sacks, MD, CBE, This philosophical precept has been forgotten during the evolution of medical science, which relied more “The power of music to integrate and cure... is quite on medicinal cures over holistic practices. Having cures for previous- fundamental. It is the profoundest nonchemical ly fatal ailments changed our focus medication.” —Oliver Sacks, “Awakenings” from old-fashioned natural remedies to the more convenient “magic pills” dispensed by doctors. Of course, the But it does not end there. Over the FRCP, in partnership with another drugs and medical procedures we have past fifty years or so, music therapy re- pioneer in the field of neurologic mu- today are invaluable to the treatment search has brought about new innova- sic therapy, Concetta Tomaino, DA, of many diseases, and disabilities. Pro- tions and knowledge focusing on how LCAT, MT-BC. longing the lives of our loved ones is a music can be used to rewire the brain In the 1960s, Oliver Sacks ob- good thing, but why not supplement to help people with neurologic injury served how rhythms could animate traditional medicines with comple- or disease. and bring movement to people with mentary therapies to aid in healing? Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) a specific type of Parkinson’s disease. This question has led to extensive combines music with neuroscience to He noticed that for people with motor research and has brought us back full provide a pathway for people with ce- disturbances or issues related to motor circle to the healing power of music. rebral palsy, autism, multiple sclerosis, coordination, the use of rhythm could 6 Vol 28, No. 4 WELL BEING JOURNAL actually turn on and stimulate areas cations work so well,” Tomaino states. therapists around the globe. Individ- in the brain through pulses of sound “This is what’s exciting to me because ualized programs are developed ac- or the rhythmic patterns of sound. soon the public will know music is not cording to each person’s specific needs Sacks saw the potential for rhythm just a feel-good thing used to pass the with fascinating results in patients to animate and bring life back to his time when you’re disabled. But it is after only a few sessions. patients and to help others. Concetta Tomaino’s journey start- ed in 1978, working with patients “The magic of “musical medicine” will come into dealing with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease. She observed that people who its own. The application of such healing potencies had severe cognitive loss and were un- will not be limited to man’s body and mind. It able to recognize anyone or anything responded to familiar music. She says, will be an agency for building and healing his “Over the years, I have studied the effects of using music mnemonics and soul as well.” —Corinne Heline (1882-1975) other music tools to help people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease to enhance their memory function. The something that can help; not only to Brian Harris is a Neurologic Music institute was founded in 1995 to help maintain function but also to restore Therapist Fellow and board-certified support my and Dr Sacks’ work and it.” music therapist with a passion to help to train other people to implement The research in neurologic music everyone he can. His first exposure these science-based music techniques. therapy is ongoing with the knowl- to the benefits of using music therapy “The IMNF has also created a edge gained being put into action by with clients happened when he was clinical practice so we can provide in-home and in-clinic music therapy services. The scope of what we do includes all neurologic conditions, so people with strokes, or those who have lost their speech due to brain injury, as did Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, can regain their speech through music therapy.” Concetta Tomaino went on to say they have successfully used certain types of singing patterns to help those who have lost their ability to find words utilizing parts of the brain that are still functional. Eventually, their patients are able to regain normal speech again. Techniques have also been devel- oped for movement disorders such as multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and Parkinson’s disease. It has been shown through neuroscience how the brain becomes stimulated and organized through sound. Fine motor NMT. Sean Manning works with MedRhythms’ lead therapist, Caitlin “Since neuroscience has devoted Hyatt on his fine motor skills. Manning explains that activities such as playing varying a subgroup to cognition, music, and sequences on the keyboard, tossing and catching shaker eggs with his left hand, and circuits in the brain, we have started ringing bells with his left index finger have greatly improved his fine motor skills and to get answers for why musical appli- coordination. WELL BEING JOURNAL Vol 28, No. 4 7 serving as an intern while attending with greater results, and sometimes his first therapy session, and now college. the music was the only thing that Manning lives independently and Harris’ mentor was working with worked. But there was more need for is self-sufficient. He still undergoes an eighteen-year-old male who was the services of NMTs than available weekly outpatient music therapy ses- physically and cognitively functioning therapists. After receiving neurologic sions with Caitlin Hyatt, lead thera- at a one-year-old level. “Within ten music therapy in the hospital, few pist at MedRhythms, to fine tune his minutes of using music with this boy, options were open for patients to con- gross and fine motor skills. He says, he was functioning at a higher level tinue as an outpatient or at home. The “We’ve focused on various things cognitively than anyone had ever seen solution—Harris started a company since my stroke. At first, it was just before. It was at that moment I decid- named MedRhythms, medrhythms- walking for the most part. Then we ed this was my calling in life.” therapy.com, to meet that need and worked on gross arm movement. As it Harris goes on to explain, “Even help as many people as he could. recovered, Caitlin and I moved on to though this was beautiful to witness, “Our company treats everyone from fine motor skills in my left hand.” I knew there had to be a reason why a ten-month-old child to our oldest He explains that activities such this boy responded to the music from client who is in his nineties. Most of as playing varying sequences on the a neurologic perspective. If we could our sessions are from thirty minutes keyboard, tossing and catching shaker figure that out, then we could real- to an hour, depending on the person’s eggs with his left hand, and ringing ly harness the power of music and tolerance level. Most of the time, we bells with his left index finger have replicate it to help other people.” That can see a change in someone’s func- greatly improved his fine motor skills was the beginning of Harris’ journey tion within the first session. However, and coordination. “Now as a result of to understanding the neuroscience frequency and consistency are import- neurologic music therapy, I’m typing behind NMT and applying it to his ant factors in order to see long-term again.” work. functional change without music.” The young man adds, “I’m a huge What exactly is neurologic music When Sean Manning first started proponent of NMT. It helped me in- therapy? Harris defines it as an indi- receiving neurologic music therapy, he credibly. It’s really awesome stuff. It’s made a big difference in my life.” Fifty years ago, neurologic music “Eventually, music therapists will compose therapy was just a theory. Through research and practical application, it prescriptions after the manner of a pharmacist.” has become a science. Even so, many people, including medical profession- —Ira Altschuler, MD, of the Eloise State als, are unaware of its existence. But things are changing; the future looks Hospital (1942) bright for neurologic or brain injury patients interested in obtaining more vidualized intervention based on the could not walk or move his left arm. information about neurologic music neuroscience of music, utilizing music He had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke therapy. to improve function in the areas of at the age of twenty-two, resulting in Concetta Tomaino says the Nation- movement, speech and language, and the left side of his body being para- al Institutes of Health (NIH) and the cognition.