Acoustic transmission of metadata in audio files using Sonic Quick Response Codes (SQRC)

With the advent of high-resolution recording and playback systems, a proportion of the ultrasonic frequency spectrum can potentially be utilized as a carrier for imperceptible data, which can be used to trigger events or to hold metadata in the form of, for example, an ISRC (International Standard Recording Code), a website URL or audio track liner notes. The Sonic Quick Response Code (SQRC) algorithm was previously proposed as a method for encoding inaudible acoustic metadata within a 96 kHz audio file in the 30-35 kHz range

Music, moments and healing processes: Music therapy

This chapter will focus on current research into musical communication in clinical improvisation as a core ingredient of human interaction in music therapy practice. A vital aspect of this practice is the recognition of kairological moments , i.e. important episodes of the music therapy process that indicate and promote change in therapy. How to document, recognize, and analyze such moments is one of the major challenges in understanding why music seems to work in healing processes

Der Relativsatz im Bambara

Vorrangiges Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die Relativsatzbildung im Bambara zu beschreiben. In der Darstellung der verschiedenen Relativsatzarten werden die Fragen berücksichtigt, welche Partizipanten der Relativisierung zugänglich sind, inwieweit der Relativsatz semantisch bzw. syntaktisch dem Matrixsatz untergeordnet ist, we1che Funktionen der Relativsatz im Hauptsatz übernehmen kann, wie in den jeweiligen Relativkonstruktionen der Bezug von Nukleus und Relativsatz gewährleistet wird und welche Funktionen das Relativum hat. Diese Fragestellungen erwachsen aus der Lektüre von Ch. Lehmanns Buch (1984), das den theoretischen Hintergrund für die folgenden Ausführungen bildet. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden Zusammenhänge und Unterschiede der einzelnen Relativsatzarten aufgezeigt, sowie Grenzbereiche der Relativsatzbildung angeschnitten. Letztere sind dort erreicht, wo Relativsätze gebraucht werden, um solche gedankliche Verknüpfungen herzustellen, die typischerweise durch andere Nebensatzarten geleistet werden. Die Betrachtungen des Grenzbereichs werden auf Satzgefüge und Tei1sätze beschränkt, komplexe Syntagmen, wie z. B. Partizipialkonstruktionen, die z. T. ähnliches leisten wie Relativsätze, werden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit nicht berücksichtigt. Ein Vergleich der Relativsatzarten führt durch die Zuordnung zu Parametern der Grammatika1isierung zur Entwicklung eines innersprachlichen Kontinuums, das ein von Lehmann ausgearbeitetes intersprachlich anwendbares Kontinuum unterstreicht

Retraining of Drug Reward, Music Cues and State-dependent Recall in Music Therapy

Brain research revealed that pleasant music appreciation is processed in same brain reward areas as euphoriant drugs. This indicates a similarity in processing intensity of emotions in the brain. These insights shed a new light on how music and emotion are linked in the brain. However, patients, with a history of drug-induced euphoria, may experience a state-dependent recall induced from certain individually perceived cues, which have been experienced together with drugs, as memory traces are stored as conditioned secondary rewards in drug memory. Music’s state-dependent cognition processes seem to be recalled (and thereby also the drug action) when listening to music without being under the influence. These learning processes have to be focused and transformed in therapy by offering new ways of learning to recognize, retrain and integrate state-specific emotional responses to preferred music to rebalance emotion and experiencing reward

Individual music therapy for managing neuropsychiatric symptoms for people with dementia and their carers: a cluster randomised controlled feasibility study

Background: Previous research highlights the importance of staff involvement in psychosocial interventions targeting neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia. Music therapy has shown potential effects, but it is not clear how this intervention can be programmed to involve care staff within the delivery of patients’ care. This study reports initial feasibility and outcomes from a five month music therapy programme including weekly individual active music therapy for people with dementia and weekly post-therapy video presentations for their carers in care homes. Methods: 17 care home residents and 10 care staff were randomised to the music therapy intervention group or standard care control group. The cluster randomised, controlled trial included baseline, 3-month, 5-month and post-intervention 7-month measures of residents’ symptoms and well-being. Carer-resident interactions were also assessed. Feasibility was based on carers’ feedback through semi-structured interviews, programme evaluations and track records of the study. Results: The music therapy programme appeared to be a practicable and acceptable intervention for care home residents and staff in managing dementia symptoms. Recruitment and retention data indicated feasibility but also challenges. Preliminary outcomes indicated differences in symptoms (13.42, 95 % CI: [4.78 to 22.07; p = 0.006]) and in levels of wellbeing (−0.74, 95 % CI: [−1.15 to −0.33; p = 0.003]) between the two groups, indicating that residents receiving music therapy improved. Staff in the intervention group reported enhanced caregiving techniques as a result of the programme. Conclusion: The data supports the value of developing a music therapy programme involving weekly active individual music therapy sessions and music therapist-carer communication. The intervention is feasible with modifications in a more rigorous evaluation of a larger sample size

Intra- and inter-brain coupling and activity dynamics during improvisational music therapy with a person with dementia: an explorative EEG-hyperscanning single case study

ObjectiveReal-life research into the underlying neural dynamics of improvisational music therapy, used with various clinical populations, is largely lacking. This single case study explored within-session differences in musical features and in within- and between-brain coupling between a Person with Dementia (PwD) and a music therapist during a music therapy session.MethodsDual-EEG from a music therapist and a PwD (male, 31 years) was recorded. Note density, pulse clarity and synchronicity were extracted from audio-visual data. Three music therapists identified moments of interest and no interest (MOI/MONI) in two drum improvisations. The Integrative Coupling Index, reflecting time-lagged neural synchronization, and musical features were compared between the MOI and MONI.ResultsBetween-brain coupling of 2 Hz activity was increased during the MOI, showing anteriority of the therapist’s neural activity. Within-brain coupling for the PwD was stronger from frontal and central areas during the MOI, but within-brain coupling for the therapist was stronger during MONI. Differences in musical features indicated that both acted musically more similar to one another during the MOI.ConclusionWithin-session differences in neural synchronization and musical features highlight the dynamic nature of music therapy.SignificanceThe findings contribute to a better understanding of social and affective processes in the brain and (interactive) musical behaviors during specific moments in a real-life music therapy session. This may provide insights into the role of such moments for relational-therapeutic processes

Editorial : Dialogues in Music Therapy and Music Neuroscience: Collaborative Understanding Driving Clinical Advances

Peer reviewe

Home-based neurologic music therapy for arm hemiparesis following stroke: results from a pilot, feasibility randomized controlled trial

Objective: To assess the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate music therapy as a home-based intervention for arm hemiparesis in stroke. Design: A pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial, with cross-over design. Randomization by statistician using computer-generated, random numbers concealed in opaque envelopes. Setting: Participants’ homes across Cambridgeshire, UK. Subjects: Eleven people with stroke and arm hemiparesis, 3–60 months post stroke, following discharge from community rehabilitation. Interventions: Each participant engaged in therapeutic instrumental music performance in 12 individual clinical contacts, twice weekly for six weeks. Main measures: Feasibility was estimated by recruitment from three community stroke teams over a 12-month period, attrition rates, completion of treatment and successful data collection. Structured interviews were conducted pre and post intervention to establish participant tolerance and preference. Action Research Arm Test and Nine-hole Peg Test data were collected at weeks 1, 6, 9, 15 and 18, pre and post intervention by a blinded assessor. Results: A total of 11 of 14 invited participants were recruited (intervention n = 6, waitlist n = 5). In total, 10 completed treatment and data collection. Conclusion: It cannot be concluded whether a larger trial would be feasible due to unavailable data regarding a number of eligible patients screened. Adherence to treatment, retention and interview responses might suggest that the intervention was motivating for participant

Electroencephalography and Music Therapy: On the Same Wavelength?

Abstract Particularly due to its temporal resolution, electroencephalography (EEG) has proved to be a feasible tool to study music perception and cognition. Consistent with the growing impact of neuroscientific research in music within the last two decades, the application of electrophysiological parameters has become more interesting for music therapy as well. This article offers an overview of electrophysiological basics and principles of EEG recording. Further, it reviews some electrophysiological studies on music perception. Eventually, it focuses on the results of EEG studies in participants with depression: clinically relevant reductions in depression and anxiety parameters are accompanied by lasting changes in resting EEG, that is, significant absolute power increases at left frontotemporal alpha and theta waves. The implications for future developments in research and clinical practice of music therapy are discussed