Divriği Hospital - Medieval Healing Venue and Its Acoustic Characteristics

Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital as one of the World heritage monuments on UNESCO’s list was the subject of research. More precisely, the focus was on the architecture and the acoustic characteristics of the hospital built in 1228/1229 by Mengüjeck dynasty, a branch of Anatolian Seljuks. For the analysis purposes, a 3D model of the hospital was created, and the acoustic simulation was conducted. The results of the acoustic analysis show that the architectural characteristics of the hospital fulfill the acoustic standards for the good reception of the sound for the audience, and that it can be concluded that Divriği hospital venue supports the hypothesis of being suitable for the healing purposes. Hospital was designed to support the sound realization and to support the environmental soundscape in conjunction with the sounding makams, which supports the music therapy healing effect. It can be concluded that music therapy had acoustical support in the construction of Anatolian Seljuk hospitals, which have characteristics of concert halls and were built as acoustic (music) venues.

The Relationship between Kitwood's Model of Needs and a Student's Music Therapy Practice in an Acute Assessment Unit for People Living with Dementia and Mental Health Issues

<p>This study focused on reviewing a student's music therapy practice at an acute assessment unit for people living with dementia and mental health issues, finding links between the placement philosophy, and new ideas about practice. Kitwood's (1997) book on personhood and the needs of people who are living with dementia and other mental health issues appeared to resonate with the student music therapists' practice. This was supported by the active use of his model of needs by nursing staff at the placement. Investigations looked specifically at Kitwood's model of needs; how music therapy links with his philosophy and how interventions during practice connected to those needs. The data was draw from descriptive clinical notes using secondary analysis. The rich qualitative data was analysed using deductive and inductive methods. Findings are presented under Kitwood's model of needs, forming the five categories for the study. The main themes within these categories were then summarised and explanations given under both Kitwood's model of needs and music therapy interventions used to meet them. Though the findings are qualitative, specific to this study and not necessarily generalisable, several links within music therapy practice, and nursing practice revealed the importance and need for more person-centred individualised care programmes for patients in mental health settings.</p>

Effect of Music on Stress Parameters in Dogs during a Mock Veterinary Visit

Veterinary visits can be stressful for dogs, but how their wellbeing changes during a visit is not well understood. Music therapy has been successfully used in clinical practice to alleviate stress and anxiety in people. The present study aimed to understand how canine stress changes during a veterinary visit, establish the effect of music, and highlight measures which may be of practical use. In a randomized crossover design, dogs were exposed to no music and a bespoke piece of classical music at a tempo designed to match their resting heart rate during a mock veterinary visit. Dogs were scored as more “afraid” during the physical examination compared to when they were in the hospital kennel (p < 0.001). Salivary cortisol, IgA, and infrared temperature all increased significantly (p < 0.05) from baseline to post-kennel and post-examination, with no effect of music treatment. Core body temperature (p = 0.010) and the odds of ‘relaxed’ lips (p = 0.020) were lower when dogs were exposed to music compared to control visits. Overall, dogs experienced changes in physiology and behavior, indicative of increased stress, over the course of the visit. Additional research is required to further understand the effect that bespoke music may have in alleviating canine stress during veterinary visits.

Prenatal Exposure to Classical Music Improves Learning and Memory in Adult Rats

Background: Exposure to music during pregnancy enhances brain development and improves learning in neonatal rats. Methods: In these experiments, we examined the effects of exposure to silence, hard rock, classical, and rap music in utero plus 60 days postpartum on learning and memory in adult Wistar rats. Passive avoidance learning (PAL) was assessed at age 60 days, and a retention test was done 24 hours after training. Elevated plus maze (EPM) was also used as a standard behavioral task for assessing the effects of music therapy on anxiety. Furthermore, we measured serum corticosterone levels and adrenal weight at the end of experiments to show the possible effect of stress on the rats’ behavior. Results: Hard rock music impaired acquisition, increasing the number of trials to acquisition in PAL task. Hard rock music also impaired the retrieval process by decreasing step-through latency and increasing time spent in the dark compartment during the retention trial. Further, in the hard rock group, there were increases in serum corticosterone and adrenal weight of rats. Classical music, in turn, improved acquisition learning and retention memory and decreased serum corticosterone levels compared to the silence group. Rats’ exposure to rap music did not show any significant change in acquisition and retrieval processes compared to the silence group. In the EPM task, classical music exposure had anxiolytic-like effects revealed in an increase in the number of entries into open arms and time spent in the open arms. However, in this task, hard rock music induced an anxiogenic effect. Conclusions: Prenatal and postnatal exposure to music improves PAL and memory in adult rats. The effects of music therapy with classical music might be related to stress reduction by lowering corticosterone as a stress biomarker or anxiolytic effects; this deserves further examination.

Chinese Music Therapy and Clinical Music Education in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

With an overall pooled estimate of 7.2% attention, deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered a global psychopathological burden in the younger generation, and a prevalence of 6.4% makes it the leading mental issue in China. On the basis of comparative research and meta-synthetic construction, the present article suggests to differentiate between ADHD as a primary psychiatric disorder, ADHD-typical symptoms caused by disturbing environmental conditions, and multifaceted ADHD resembling syndromes generated by adverse developmental processes and inadequate educational facilities. This differentiation has a decisive impact on treatment modes such as (i) clinical music education, e.g. piano tuition, (ii) cultural participation and self-adjustment through arts-based cognitive behavioural therapy, (iii) avoidance of disturbing stimuli as well as music-based resilience techniques, and (iv) Chinese music therapy including sound-meditation, focused listening training, creative self-actualisation and music-based self-regulation. Interdisciplinary approaches combining music therapy and music education are discussed, alongside cross-cultural application and flexible settings, online music therapy included.

Effective Ways for College Students’ Mental Health Education Based on Music Therapy

Music therapy plays a very important role in college students’ mental health education. As a marginal subject, music therapy combines music, medicine, and psychology, which is beneficial to alleviate students' bad emotions and psychological problems and help college students form a sound personality. In the process of teaching in colleges and universities, it is necessary to choose teaching methods that are closer to students’ real life so as to promote the healthy development of college students’ psychology. From the relevant investigation and analysis, college students are interested in learning music, which provides an effective basis for college students to use music to treat psychological problems. Good policies, conditions, and a broad mass base are conducive to the application of music therapy in college mental health education. The application of music therapy in the field of college students’ mental health also broadens the application field of music. This paper analyzes the application of music therapy in college students’ mental health education and probes into the effective ways for college students’ mental health education.

A 12-month Randomised Pilot Trial of the Alzheimer’s and Music Therapy Study: A Feasibility Assessment of Music Therapy and Physical Activity in Patients with Mild-to-Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease

Background: The Alzheimer’s and Music Therapy (ALMUTH) study is the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) design with 12 months of active non-pharmacological therapy (NPT) implementing music therapy (MT) and physical activity (PA) for participants with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The aim of the present article is to retrospectively examine the inclusion of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s Disease patients into the main ALMUTH study protocol and to determine if continued inclusion of AD patients is warranted. Methods: The randomised pilot trial was conducted as a parallel three-arm RCT, reflecting the experimental design of the ALMUTH study. The trial was conducted in Bergen, Norway and randomisation (1:1:1) was performed by an external researcher. The study was open label and the experimental design features two active NPTs: MT and PA, and a passive control (no intervention, CON) in Norwegian speaking patients with AD who still live at home and could provide informed consent. Sessions were offered one time per week (up to 90 minutes) up to 40 sessions over the period of 12 months. Baseline and follow-up tests included a full neuropsychological test battery and three magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements (structural, functional, and diffusion weighted imaging). Feasibility outcomes were assessed and were determined as feasible if they met the target criteria. Results: 18 participants with a diagnosis of mild-to-moderate AD were screened, randomised, and tested at baseline and after a 12-month follow-up interval. Participants were divided into three groups: MT (n=6), PA (n=6), and CON (n=6). Results of the study revealed that the ALMUTH protocol in patients with AD is not feasible. Adherence to protocol was poor (50% attended sessions), the presence of 50% attrition rates, 50% retention rates, insufficient and costly recruitment, issues with study fidelity, and many issues raised by staff. Recruitment status is still ongoing and the main study has been expanded to include milder forms of memory impairment. No adverse events were reported by the patients or their caregivers. Conclusions: The pilot trial was not deemed feasible in patients exclusively with AD. To mitigate this, the ALMUTH study has expanded the recruitment criteria to include participants with milder forms of memory impairment (pre-AD) in addition to expanding the neuropsychological test battery. The ALMUTH study is currently ongoing. Trial Registration: Norsk Forskningsråd (NFR) funded. Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REC-WEST: reference number 2018/206). ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03444181 (registered retrospectively 23 February 2018, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03444181).

PREFERENCES FOR VIRTUAL MUSIC THERAPY AND THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE PRACTICE OF CZECH MUSIC THERAPISTS – A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The preventive restrictions imposed at the beginning of March 2020 led to the interruption of the therapeutic practice of most music therapists in the Czech Republic. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to find out what impact this situation had on the music therapy community at the end of May 2020, how many music therapists gained experience with virtual music therapy (VMT) and how ICT and other technologies were used in music therapy practice. A survey with an extended version of a questionnaire created by Gilboa, Weiss and Dassa (not yet published) for the purpose of an international survey in music therapy was used for data collection. Based on the findings, most music therapists at the time had no experience with VMT, but a small number of practitioners were interested in using VMT even after the end of the lockdown. ICT has been used more for receptive music therapy activities and its wider application faces problems such as a lack of knowledge and skills in the use of ICT in the context of music therapy. Based on these findings, a project focused on the implementation of best-evidence concerning VMT into Czech music therapy practice was launched. Also, we recommend creating projects focused on the use of ICT (including applications in music therapy conducted face-to-face) in the near future.