Reviewing the Effectiveness of Music Interventions in Treating Depression

Depression is a very common mood disorder, resulting in a loss of social function, reduced quality of life and increased mortality. Music interventions have been shown to be a potential alternative for depression therapy but the number of up-to-date research literature is quite limited. We present a review of original research trials which utilize music or music therapy as intervention to treat participants with depressive symptoms. Our goal was to differentiate the impact of certain therapeutic uses of music used in the various experiments. Randomized controlled study designs were preferred but also longitudinal studies were chosen to be included. 28 studies with a total number of 1,810 participants met our inclusion criteria and were finally selected. We distinguished between passive listening to music (record from a CD or live music) (79%), and active singing, playing, or improvising with instruments (46%). Within certain boundaries of variance an analysis of similar studies was attempted. Critical parameters were for example length of trial, number of sessions, participants' age, kind of music, active or passive participation and single- or group setting. In 26 studies, a statistically significant reduction in depression levels was found over time in the experimental (music intervention) group compared to a control (n = 25) or comparison group (n = 2). In particular, elderly participants showed impressive improvements when they listened to music or participated in music therapy projects. Researchers used group settings more often than individual sessions and our results indicated a slightly better outcome for those cases. Additional questionnaires about participants confidence, self-esteem or motivation, confirmed further improvements after music treatment. Consequently, the present review offers an extensive set of comparable data, observations about the range of treatment options these papers addressed, and thus might represent a valuable aid for future projects for the use of music-based interventions to improve symptoms of depression

Self-organized criticality as a framework for consciousness: A review study

Objective: No current model of consciousness is univocally accepted on either theoretical or empirical grounds, and the need for a solid unifying framework is evident. Special attention has been given to the premise that self-organized criticality (SOC) is a fundamental property of neural system. SOC provides a competitive model to describe the physical mechanisms underlying spontaneous brain activity, and thus, critical dynamics were proposed as general gauges of information processing representing a strong candidate for a surrogate measure of consciousness. As SOC could be a neurodynamical framework, which may be able to bring together existing theories and experimental evidence, the purpose of this work was to provide a comprehensive overview of progress of research on SOC in association with consciousness. Methods: A comprehensive search of publications on consciousness and SOC published between 1998 and 2021 was conducted. The Web of Science database was searched, and annual number of publications and citations, type of articles, and applied methods were determined. Results: A total of 71 publications were identified. The annual number of citations steadily increased over the years. Original articles comprised 50.7% and reviews/theoretical articles 43.6%. Sixteen studies reported on human data and in seven studies data were recorded in animals. Computational models were utilized in n = 12 studies. EcoG data were assessed in n = 4 articles, fMRI in n = 4 studies, and EEG/MEG in n = 10 studies. Notably, different analytical tools were applied in the EEG/MEG studies to assess a surrogate measure of criticality such as the detrended fluctuation analysis, the pair correlation function, parameters from the neuronal avalanche analysis and the spectral exponent. Conclusion: Recent studies pointed out agreements of critical dynamics with the current most influencing theories in the field of consciousness research, the global workspace theory and the integrated information theory. Thus, the framework of SOC as a neurodynamical parameter for consciousness seems promising. However, identified experimental work was small in numbers, and a heterogeneity of applied analytical tools as a surrogate measure of criticality was observable, which limits the generalizability of findings

Determining states of consciousness in the electroencephalogram based on spectral, complexity, and criticality features

This study was based on the contemporary proposal that distinct states of consciousness are quantifiable by neural complexity and critical dynamics. To test this hypothesis, it was aimed at comparing the electrophysiological correlates of three meditation conditions using nonlinear techniques from the complexity and criticality framework as well as power spectral density. Thirty participants highly proficient in meditation were measured with 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) during one session consisting of a task-free baseline resting (eyes closed and eyes open), a reading condition, and three meditation conditions (thoughtless emptiness, presence monitoring, and focused attention). The data were analyzed applying analytical tools from criticality theory (detrended fluctuation analysis, neuronal avalanche analysis), complexity measures (multiscale entropy, Higuchi’s fractal dimension), and power spectral density. Task conditions were contrasted, and effect sizes were compared. Partial least square regression and receiver operating characteristics analysis were applied to determine the discrimination accuracy of each measure. Compared to resting with eyes closed, the meditation categories emptiness and focused attention showed higher values of entropy and fractal dimension. Long-range temporal correlations were declined in all meditation conditions. The critical exponent yielded the lowest values for focused attention and reading. The highest discrimination accuracy was found for the gamma band (0.83–0.98), the global power spectral density (0.78–0.96), and the sample entropy (0.86–0.90). Electrophysiological correlates of distinct meditation states were identified and the relationship between nonlinear complexity, critical brain dynamics, and spectral features was determined. The meditation states could be discriminated with nonlinear measures and quantified by the degree of neuronal complexity, long-range temporal correlations, and power law distributions in neuronal avalanches

Neurophysiological Effects of a Singing Bowl Massage

Background and Objectives: In recent years, singing bowl sound interventions have been progressively implemented in the fields of well-being, therapy and education; however, the effectiveness has only scarcely been investigated. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining neurophysiological effects of a singing bowl massage. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study 64-channel EEG, ECG and respiration was recorded from 34 participants (mean age 36.03 ± 13.43 years, 24 females/10 males) before, during and after a professional singing bowl massage. Further, subjective changes in well-being were assessed. EEG data were analyzed by determining the effect sizes of distinct frequency bands. Significant differences were calculated by a two-tailed t-test corrected for multiple comparisons. Heart rate variability metrics, heart rate and respiration rate were estimated and compared. Results: Overall EEG power decreased during the sound condition compared to a task-free resting state (d = −0.30, p = 0.002). After the intervention, global EEG power was further reduced (d = −0.46, p < 0.001), revealing a decrease in the beta 2 (d = −0.15, p = 0.002) and the gamma frequency band (d = −0.21, p = 0.004). The mean heart rate was significantly lower after the intervention (75.5 ± 19.8 vs. 71.5 ± 17.9, p < 0.001) and the respiration rate higher (13.5 ± 5.3 vs. 15.2 ± 6.3, p = 0.018). 91.2% of the participants felt more integrated, 97.1% more balanced and 76.5% more vitalized. Conclusions: The neurophysiological effects of a singing bowl sound massage may be interpreted as a shift towards a more mindful, meditative state of consciousness. The intervention was perceived as beneficial for the wellbeing

Das Interpersonelle Aufmerksamkeitsmanagement-Inventar: Ein neues Instrument zur Erfassung unterschiedlicher Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmungsfähigkeiten. = Interpersonal Attention Management Inventory: A New Instrument to Capture Different Self- and External Perception Skills

Hintergrund: Das Interpersonelle Aufmerksamkeitsmanagement-Inventar (IAMI) stellt ein neues Instrument zur Erfassung der Kompetenz in Selbst- und Fremdwahrnehmung dar. Ihm liegt ein theoretisches Modell bestehend aus den 3 mentalen Aufmerksamkeitsstandorten (intrapersoneller Raum, extrapersoneller Raum und fremder intrapersoneller Raum) einer anderen Person zugrunde. Methoden: Das IAMI wurde anhand einer größeren Stichprobe (n = 1089) hinsichtlich seiner Faktorenstruktur untersucht und gekürzt, und es wurden testtheoretische Kennwerte sowie erste Vergleichswerte berechnet. Ergebnisse: Eine Faktorenanalyse konnte die Einteilung in die übergeordneten Skalen weitgehend bestätigen. Die gekürzte Version mit 31 Items und 3 übergeordneten Skalen weist eine gute interne Konsistenz des Gesamtwertes (Cronbachs α = 0,81) auf und zeigt hinsichtlich der konvergenten Validität einen mittleren Zusammenhang (r = 0,41) des Gesamtwertes mit Achtsamkeit, gemessen mit dem Freiburger Fragebogen zur Achtsamkeit. Schlussfolgerungen: Weitere Validierungsstudien sind erwünscht, sodass das IAMI als (Verlaufs-)Diagnostikum für die Therapie psychischer Störungen sowie für die Forschung im Bereich der sozialen Neurowissenschaften eingesetzt werden kann, z.B. bei der Erforschung von Achtsamkeit, Mitgefühl, Empathie, der Theory-of-Mind und der Ich-Grenze

Spirituality: The Legacy of Parapsychology

Spirituality is a topic of recent interest. Mindfulness, for example, a concept derived from the Buddhist tradition, has captivated the imagination of clinicians who package it in convenient intervention programs for patients. Spirituality and religion have been researched with reference to potential health benefi ts. Spirituality can be conceptualised as the alignment of the individual with the whole, experientially, motivationally and in action. For spirituality to unfold its true potential it is necessary to align this new movement with the mainstream of science, and vice versa. Hence, both a historical review, and a systematic attempt at integration is called for, which we are trying to give here. It is useful to go back to one of the roots: parapsychology. Parapsychology was founded as a counter movement to the rising materialist paradigm in the 19th century. Adopting the methods of the natural sciences, it tried to prove the direct infl uence of consciousness on matter. After 125 years this mission must be declared unaccomplished. Surveying the database of parapsychological research it is obvious that it will not convince sceptics: Although there are enough exceptional fi ndings, it has in general not been possible to reproduce them in replication experiments. Th is is, however, a characteristic signature of a category of eff ects which we call eff ects of generalised entanglement, predicted by a theoretical model analogous to quantum theory. Using this perspective, parapsychological eff ects can be understood, and the original aim of the founding fathers can be recovered, as well as a new, systematic understanding of spirituality be gained. Generalised entanglement is a formal and scientifi c way of explaining spirituality as alignment of an individual with a whole, which, according to the model, inevitably leads to non-local correlations

Decreased electrophysiological activity represents the conscious state of emptiness in meditation

Many neuroscientific theories explain consciousness with higher order information processing corresponding to an activation of specific brain areas and processes. In contrast, most forms of meditation ask for a down-regulation of certain mental processing activities while remaining fully conscious. To identify the physiological properties of conscious states with decreased mental and cognitive processing, the electrical brain activity (64 channels of EEG) of 50 participants of various meditation proficiencies was measured during distinct and idiosyncratic meditative tasks. The tasks comprised a wakeful "thoughtless emptiness (TE)," a "focused attention," and an "open monitoring" task asking for mindful presence in the moment and in the environment without attachment to distracting thoughts. Our analysis mainly focused on 30 highly experienced meditators with at least 5 years and 1000 h of meditation experience. Spectral EEG power comparisons of the TE state with the resting state or other forms of meditation showed decreased activities in specific frequency bands. In contrast to a focused attention task the TE task showed significant central and parietal gamma decreases (p < 0.05). Compared to open monitoring TE expressed decreased alpha and beta amplitudes, mainly in parietal areas (p < 0.01). TE presented significantly less delta (p < 0.001) and theta (p < 0.05) waves than a wakeful closed eyes resting condition. A group of participants with none or little meditation practice did not present those differences significantly. Our findings indicate that a conscious state of TE reached by experienced meditators is characterized by reduced high-frequency brain processing with simultaneous reduction of the low frequencies. This suggests that such a state of meditative conscious awareness might be different from higher cognitive and mentally focused states but also from states of sleep and drowsiness

Evaluation of a Salutogenetic Concept for Inpatient Psychosomatic Treatment

The increase of psychosomatic disorders due to cultural changes requires enhanced therapeutic models. This study investigated a salutogenetic treatment concept for inpatient psychosomatic treatment, based on data from more than 11000 patients of a psychosomatic clinic in Germany. The clinic aims at supporting patients’ health improvement by fostering values such as humanity, community, and mindfulness. Most of patients found these values realized in the clinical environment. Self-assessment questionnaires addressing physical and mental health as well as symptom ratings were available for analysis of pre-post-treatment effects and long-term stability using one-year follow-up data, as well as for a comparison with other clinics. With respect to different diagnoses, symptoms improved in self-ratings with average effect sizes between 0.60 and 0.98. About 80% of positive changes could be sustained as determined in a 1-year follow-up survey. Patients with a lower concordance with the values of the clinic showed less health improvement. Compared to 14 other German psychosomatic clinics, the investigated treatment concept resulted in slightly higher decrease in symptoms (e.g., depression scale) and a higher self-rated mental and physical improvement in health. The data suggest that a successfully implemented salutogenetic clinical treatment concept not only has positive influence on treatment effects but also provides long-term stability

Pain Ratings, Psychological Functioning and Quantitative EEG in a Controlled Study of Chronic Back Pain Patients

<div><h3>Objectives</h3><p>Several recent studies report the presence of a specific EEG pattern named Thalamocortical Dysrhythmia (TCD) in patients with severe chronic neurogenic pain. This is of major interest since so far no neuroscientific indicator of chronic pain could be identified. We investigated whether a TCD-like pattern could be found in patients with moderate chronic back pain, and we compared patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain components. We furthermore assessed the presence of psychopathology and the degree of psychological functioning and examined whether the strength of the TCD-related EEG markers is correlated with psychological symptoms and pain ratings.</p> <h3>Design</h3><p>Controlled clinical trial with age and sex matched healthy controls.</p> <h3>Methods</h3><p>Spontaneous EEG was recorded in 37 back pain patients and 37 healthy controls.</p> <h3>Results</h3><p>We were not able to observe a statistically significant TCD effect in the EEG data of the whole patient group, but a subsample of patients with evidence for root damage showed a trend in this direction. Pain patients showed markedly increased psychopathology. In addition, patients' ratings of pain intensity within the last 1 to 12 months showed strong correlations with EEG power, while psychopathology was correlated to the peak frequency.</p> <h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Out of several possible interpretations the most likely conclusion is that only patients with severe pain as well as root lesions with consecutive thalamic deafferentation develop the typical TCD pattern. Our primary method of defining ‘neuropathic pain’ could not reliably determine if such a deafferentation was present. Nevertheless the analysis of a specific subsample as well as correlations between pain ratings, psychopathology and EEG power and peak frequency give some support to the TCD concept.</p> <h3>Trial Registration</h3><p>ClinicalTrials.gov <a href="http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00744575">NCT00744575</a></p> </div

Nessi: An EEG-Controlled Web Browser for Severely Paralyzed Patients

We have previously demonstrated that an EEG-controlled web browser based on self-regulation of slow cortical potentials (SCPs) enables severely paralyzed patients to browse the internet independently of any voluntary muscle control. However, this system had several shortcomings, among them that patients could only browse within a limited number of web pages and had to select links from an alphabetical list, causing problems if the link names were identical or if they were unknown to the user (as in graphical links). Here we describe a new EEG-controlled web browser, called Nessi, which overcomes these shortcomings. In Nessi, the open source browser, Mozilla, was extended by graphical in-place markers, whereby different brain responses correspond to different frame colors placed around selectable items, enabling the user to select any link on a web page. Besides links, other interactive elements are accessible to the user, such as e-mail and virtual keyboards, opening up a wide range of hypertext-based applications