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Comparison of music stimuli to support mindfulness meditation
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of and preference for different auditory stimuli in supporting mindfulness meditation. Undergraduate non-musicians ( N = 57) listened to four different auditory stimuli guiding them in a mindfulness meditation: script only (i.e., Script), steady beat (i.e., Beat), beat and harmonic progression (i.e., Harmony), and beat, harmony, and melody (i.e., Melody). This study used a within-subjects repeated-measures design with the four conditions counterbalanced and randomized across participants. Participants rated responses using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), completed the Absorption in Music Scale (AIMS), and ranked auditory stimuli according to preference and usefulness for mindfulness meditation. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on the MAAS scores, using the AIMS as a covariate, indicated no statistically significant difference between auditory stimuli. However, with the AIMS removed, the analysis revealed significant differences between stimuli, indicating that levels of absorption in music may moderate participants’ responses to auditory stimuli for mindfulness meditation. Friedman analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and post hoc analyses indicated that participant rankings of usefulness and preference were significantly different among conditions, with the Melody and Harmony conditions ranked highest.
... Mindfulness and music listening is a relative novel field of research that is just starting to be investigated (Lecuona de la Cruz & Rodriquez-Carvajal, 2014). Music, when structured appropriately, may support mindfulness meditation (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2021). Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz (2021) identified three ways that music may be utilized in mindfulness practice: (1) music as a support for mindfulness meditation, (2) music as a focus for mindful listening, and (3) music as a focus for mindful active engagement. ...
... Music, when structured appropriately, may support mindfulness meditation (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2021). Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz (2021) identified three ways that music may be utilized in mindfulness practice: (1) music as a support for mindfulness meditation, (2) music as a focus for mindful listening, and (3) music as a focus for mindful active engagement. Music as a support for mindfulness meditation is when music is specifically designed, composed, or selected, based on the best available research, to support internal and external responses for a mindfulness meditation practice. ...
... During this practice the music becomes the object of meditation or source of contemplation. Music as a focus for mindful, active engagement is when the act of playing, singing, moving, or creating music in which the participants observe, describe, or participate mindfully, nonjudgmentally, and effectively (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2021). Gadberry (2011) has shown that music may have an effect on reducing overall anxiety. ...
Background: Research shows that mindfulness interventions for test anxiety in a college student population are beneficial (Lothes, Mochrie, Wilson, & Hakan, 2021). This study expands on the existing literature by examining how distance learning mindfulness practices may affect anxiety in college students.
Aim: This study assessed the effects of online mindfulness practices over a five-week period on test anxiety in college students.
Method: Participants included 31 college students that were randomly assigned to either a sitting meditation or music meditation condition. The two groups were also split in half to add a wait list control condition. A weekly schedule of mindfulness practices was given to participants to complete on their own.
Results: Participants in the sitting meditation condition showed significant within-group reductions in test anxiety, overall anxiety, and mindfulness from start to finish. The music meditation group showed no changes in test anxiety. However, overall anxiety showed decreases in scores, and overall mindfulness did show significant increases for this group.
Conclusion: Mindfulness may play a role in the reduction of anxiety and test anxiety. Further research is needed to more definitively assess how music meditation may impact anxiety.
... The musical approach we chose is based on previous studies demonstrating the superiority of self-selected or preferred music over standard selected music in improving pain and anxiety outcomes in a variety of settings (11)(12)(13)(14). It also takes into consideration musical features to better accompany pre-recorded text (15). ...
... To identify preferred musical characteristics in background music, we found a study that evaluated different musical components of musical frames accompanying pre-recorded spoken text. The results reported that musical accompaniments with a high degree of harmonic and melodic simplicity enabled a greater state of mindful state to be achieved during guided meditation with music (15). ...
... Based on the results of a meta-analysis (25), based on a clinical script (28) 1 , and on studies on musical components (11)(12)(13)(14)(15), we developed the first version of a mixed intervention program that integrates hypnosis and music. In keeping with the principles of pragmatic studies and to foster respect for the individuality of patients according to the principles of person-centered care (29,30), we offer three choices of interventions, which they can select according to their preferences: Hypnosis (H), Music (M), and Hypnosis with Music (HM). ...
Background
The palliative care people present needs that can be partially met by complementary intervention. Approaches based on the use of hypnosis and music are increasingly being studied and have shown potential benefits on pain, anxiety, and wellbeing for many populations including those in palliative care.Objective
This study aims to present the initial process of creating and refining a hypnosis and music intervention program intended for persons in palliative care, with a panel of experts of diverse relevant backgrounds. It also aims to evaluate its feasibility, preliminary acceptability, and content.Methods
To achieve the objectives, we followed ORBIT recommendations for the development and redesign of behavioral interventions (phase I a-b). Based on a meta-analysis, reference interventions were identified and then adapted to the target population. Twenty-two experts from different backgrounds were consulted to obtain their evaluation on the acceptability, feasibility, and content of the interventions.ResultThe various components of the program were deemed appropriate or very appropriate by over 80% of the experts. However, possible risks were raised related to some uncertainty about the reactions of individuals to the intervention. Several experts (32%) indicated potential adverse effects consisting of negative emotional experiences during the sessions. Modifications were proposed specifically to reduce or mitigate this risk. Over 90% of the experts considered that the revised program provides a safer and more appropriate intervention for palliative care persons.ConclusionA mixed intervention program with hypnosis and music has been developed and attained a high level of consensus by the experts. The proposed intervention is ready to be assessed for clinical efficacy in a pilot study (ORBIT Phase II).
... Another advantage of CUREs is that they can be embedded across the curriculum, with many different course contents, gradually exposing students to research experiences of increasing difficulty and amount of participation (Dvorak et al., 2020;Hernandez et al., 2018;Russell et al., 2015). CUREs have most often been used in the sciences (e.g., Auchincloss et al., 2014;Kerr & Yan, 2016;Kowalski et al., 2016;Olimpo et al., 2016;Wang, 2017), but initial research in music supports their translation to an arts-based discipline (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019a;Dvorak et al., 2021;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020a). ...
... Students enrolled in music psychology courses majoring in several music disciplines (e.g., music therapy, music education, music performance, music theory, and music digital media) participated as student researchers in CUREs investigating music and mindfulness (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019a;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020aHernandez-Ruiz, Sebren, et al., 2021). The principal investigators collected data on the student researchers' experiences to evaluate the impact of the embedded CUREs and to improve their implementation. ...
... Given that CUREs are designed within courses, a similar experience is expected for students enrolling in the course every semester. Therefore, elements of previous CUREs were used in the design of the present study, which could be considered a conceptual replication of previous work (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019a) but not a direct one (Brandt et al., 2014). This project seemed of particular value given the limited research of CUREs in higher education for music majors and none in a virtual modality, the potential benefits to students, as well as the direct social contribution to participants during these difficult circumstances. ...
Translation of research to practice is essential for competent practitioners but requires skills and experience in reading and understanding research. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) may be a means of developing research skills for all students in a course. For successful CUREs, faculty evaluate students’ research skill development and decide on a project that appropriately promotes student learning. In this case, we chose an open-ended project. We then evaluated the experiences of music students (music therapy, music performance, and music digital media) as they participated in a virtual CURE during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design with two surveys and open-ended responses of the whole group (n = 22) and a focus group with a volunteer subsample of students (n = 7) indicated important gains in understanding research articles, writing a scholarly paper, understanding the relevance of research to their coursework, and developing communication and teamwork skills. Student suggestions for improvement included clarification of the expectations and timelines, particularly in a virtual setting, and better distribution of effort during the semester. Overall, a virtual CURE may support student research skill development and help them become more effective research consumers.
... Similarly, music therapy programs have included mindfulness as a therapeutic technique (Baylan et al., 2018;Lesiuk, 2015). Although there is anecdotal evidence and general understanding of the type of music that supports mindfulness practice (i.e., slow, repetitive, legato music), empirical investigation of the use and impact of music on mindfulness meditation is only emerging (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Eckhardt & Dinsmore, 2012;Goldberg, 2015;Graham, 2010;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020a;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020b;Hernandez-Ruiz et al., 2020;Lesiuk, 2016). Music therapy practice may benefit from research that identifies the best musical stimuli for interventions (Hanson-Abromeit, 2015). ...
... To investigate the role of different musical elements and music complexity on mindfulness practice, we developed a line of research investigating music and mindfulness. In previous studies (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020a;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020b;Hernandez-Ruiz et al., 2020), we investigated music complexity and its effect on mindfulness, preference, and usefulness. We paired the music composition with a mindfulness script (labeled Melody) and compared it with a script without music (labeled Script), a script with the steady tone only (labeled Steady Tone), and a script with the same tone and the simple harmonic progression (labeled Harmony). ...
... We paired the music composition with a mindfulness script (labeled Melody) and compared it with a script without music (labeled Script), a script with the steady tone only (labeled Steady Tone), and a script with the same tone and the simple harmonic progression (labeled Harmony). We found that a more complex (yet still simple) stimulus (i. e., Melody) was most preferred and considered more useful, but not more effective, for mindfulness meditation than no music or only a steady tone (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020b;Hernandez-Ruiz et al., 2020). A more recent study (Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020a) investigated whether the specific set of compositional parameters could be transferred to new stimuli and show similar results. ...
Mindfulness has become increasingly common in therapeutic and non-therapeutic venues as a way to address stress, change, and uncertainty, such as in the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of music in mindfulness is apparent in several traditional and Western practices but has little research regarding its effect in novice practitioners. In an online course-based research experience, a group of student researchers, a graduate research assistant and two faculty members recruited 54 healthy participants within their social networks, to investigate the effect of a music stimulus on one mindfulness exercise and the feasibility of implementing this intervention in virtual sessions. Participants attended two virtual group sessions where student researchers and a faculty member/research assistant provided online questionnaires and links to a 20-minute meditation recording, either with or without music, as the two conditions. Potential moderators of the intervention included stress in the previous month and absorption in music. A repeated-measures ANCOVA indicated no significant differences among conditions, and no interaction with stress or absorption in music. Although contrary to our expectations, the lack of significant differences between conditions indicate that music did not distract from a mindfulness meditation, and that the music and guided mindfulness stimulus was as efficacious as the guided mindfulness alone. Given the potential for music to become a distractor for novice practitioners, this finding is important and in line with our theoretical framework. Online delivery of this intervention was feasible and apparently effective. Suggestions for implementation of online research and intervention delivery are included.
... The first two authors facilitated the first CUREs for music students in helping professions (i.e., music therapy, music education) in required music psychology courses at two research-intensive universities (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019b;Dvorak et al., in press;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, 2020b). The embedded research project in the course compared four music stimuli to support mindfulness meditation for undergraduate non-musicians (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019; and musicians (Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, in press;. The embedded project was bounded research in which the instructor set study parameters and directions, and students worked within them (Willison et al., 2015). ...
... Teams of students crafted novel music stimuli based on the compositional principles of the stimuli used in previous studies. The compositional principles of the original stimulus were decided within parameters found in the music psychology literature (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019). These principles are included in the assignment description in Appendix A. Teams of 3-4 students from both sites created a total of 16 music stimuli. ...
... The resulting scaffolded project embedded in this CURE involved music students composing novel music stimuli for mindfulness meditation, following similar research-9 based compositional principles to the original stimuli used in previous studies (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Hernandez-Ruiz & Dvorak, in press;. Students chose from a range of provided structures, approaches, pathways, or sources to craft the music stimuli (Willison et al., 2015). ...
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) allow students opportunities to develop research skills. In a scaffolded CURE, music therapy and music education students composed, evaluated, and selected the music stimuli used in a music and mindfulness study with non-musicians at Site 1 and musicians at Site 2. The purposes of this paper are to (a) describe the process of student music stimuli composition and evaluation for use in a course-based undergraduate research experience and (b) identify benefits, challenges, and lessons learned from the viewpoints of students, graduate assistants, and faculty who participated in the multi-site study. Eight students, two graduate assistants, and two faculty provide an overview of the CURE teaching model and assignments, and share first-person accounts of their experiences participating in this CURE.
... Sound and music are used in mindfulness meditation and may be an integral part of different practices (Baylan et al., 2018;Bell, McIntyre, & Hadley, 2016;Diaz, 2011;Kabat-Zinn, 1990;Lesiuk, 2016). However, empirical investigation of the use and impact of music on mindfulness meditation is scarce (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Eckhardt & Dinsmore, 2012;Goldberg, 2015;Graham, 2010;Hernandez-Ruiz, Dvorak, & Weingarten, 2020;Lesiuk, 2015). To illustrate an example, we review Lesiuk's (2015Lesiuk's ( , 2016 work in an innovative Mindfulness-Based Music Therapy program for women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. 1 Based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), Lesiuk (2016) designed and led music interventions where participants practiced elements of the program and transferred them to daily life through music interventions, and where music was the essential tool for the practices. ...
... In three studies using repeated-measures and mixed-model designs, with a total of 156 participants, we considered musical features that may support mindfulness practice. In an initial study (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019), we presented an original, unfamiliar musical stimulus composed with minimal timbral, melodic and harmonic complexity, created by layering a steady tone (played with a sampled counterbass), harmonic progression (I vi V ii chords, played with a sampled string ensemble), and melody (played with a sampled viola). We paired the music composition with a mindfulness script (labeled Melody), and compared it with a script without music (labeled Script), a script with the steady tone only (labeled Steady Tone), and a script with the same tone and the simple harmonic progression (labeled Harmony). ...
... Our findings indicate that less complexity (Script and Steady Tone) seemed more effective for non-musicians (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019) but only when absorption of music was not accounted for, indicating a possible moderating effect of absorption in music on the intervention. However, this moderating effect was not found among musicians nor in the replication study , and no condition was found to be more effective in the latter studies . ...
Mindfulness meditation has frequently used sound and music as an important component. However, research on effective music stimuli is scarce. After a series of studies evaluating the most effective, useful, and preferred auditory stimuli, we were interested in exploring whether these effective musical features were transferred to new music. In this study, we evaluate our original music stimuli with three new stimuli composed under similar principles. Non-musician and musician participants (N = 114) in a multisite study evaluated their mindfulness state after listening to four music stimuli, and rated their usefulness and preference. Results from a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) at each site indicated no significant difference in mindfulness effectiveness. Friedman’s ANOVAs for the usefulness of the music stimuli showed similar non-significant results in both sites. A mixed model among sites did not show significant differences among groups. Preference rankings were not significantly different for non-musicians, but musicians did show a statistically significant preference of the Original stimuli over Stimulus 2, probably due to sound quality. These results indicate the feasibility of transferring previously researched and effective musical features to new stimuli. Identifying the effective “active ingredients” of music interventions may be one way of supporting evidence-based practice in music therapy.
... Sound and music are used in mindfulness meditation and may be an integral part of different practices (Baylan et al., 2018;Bell, McIntyre, & Hadley, 2016;Diaz, 2011;Kabat-Zinn, 1990;Lesiuk, 2016). However, empirical investigation of the use and impact of music on mindfulness meditation is scarce (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Eckhardt & Dinsmore, 2012;Goldberg, 2015;Graham, 2010;Hernandez-Ruiz, Dvorak, & Weingarten, 2020;Lesiuk, 2015). To illustrate an example, we review Lesiuk's (2015Lesiuk's ( , 2016 work in an innovative Mindfulness-Based Music Therapy program for women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. 1 Based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), Lesiuk (2016) designed and led music interventions where participants practiced elements of the program and transferred them to daily life through music interventions, and where music was the essential tool for the practices. ...
... In three studies using repeated-measures and mixed-model designs, with a total of 156 participants, we considered musical features that may support mindfulness practice. In an initial study (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019), we presented an original, unfamiliar musical stimulus composed with minimal timbral, melodic and harmonic complexity, created by layering a steady tone (played with a sampled counterbass), harmonic progression (I vi V ii chords, played with a sampled string ensemble), and melody (played with a sampled viola). We paired the music composition with a mindfulness script (labeled Melody), and compared it with a script without music (labeled Script), a script with the steady tone only (labeled Steady Tone), and a script with the same tone and the simple harmonic progression (labeled Harmony). ...
... Our findings indicate that less complexity (Script and Steady Tone) seemed more effective for non-musicians (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019) but only when absorption of music was not accounted for, indicating a possible moderating effect of absorption in music on the intervention. However, this moderating effect was not found among musicians nor in the replication study , and no condition was found to be more effective in the latter studies . ...
Mindfulness is a natural human capacity to be aware of the present moment, without judgment, rejection, or attachment to it. Cultivating a mindful state has been related to improvements in mood and stress management. Mindfulness practices may be enhanced with music. The purpose of this study was to replicate a previous study regarding the effectiveness, preference, and usefulness of different auditory stimuli for mindfulness practice. Undergraduate nonmusicians (N = 53) listened to 4 different auditory stimuli of increasing complexity, guiding them in a mindfulness experience. Participants rated their mindfulness experience, provided data on their absorption in music, and ranked auditory stimuli according to preference and usefulness for mindfulness practice. A within-subjects design was used to compare the four conditions, counterbalanced, and randomized across participants. Similar to the original study, Friedman analysis of variances (ANOVAs) and post hoc analyses indicated that participants ranked the Melody and Harmony conditions as most preferred and useful. Different from the original results, the repeated-measures ANOVA of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale scores did not reveal significant differences among auditory stimuli for mindfulness experience. These results provide support for the use of music in mindfulness experiences with a mildly complex stimulus (script, beat, harmony, and melody). However, partially replicated results indicate the need to investigate the discrepancy between participants’ effectiveness ratings and preference/usefulness rankings.
... The embedded research study and focus of this CURE was a comparison of four aural stimuli of increasing complexity to support mindfulness meditation for nonmusicians (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019b). The faculty member and GRA recruited participants for the embedded study through an online university recruitment system. ...
... Other CURE assignments included (a) completing a research ethics certification, (b) reading research summaries to support hypotheses of the embedded mindfulness study, (c) attending the GRA's lecture regarding the statistical analyses and results of the embedded project, (d) writing a research paper with these results, and (e) developing teamwork and interpersonal effectiveness skills. Further details of these assignments are included in Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, (2019b). Given student feedback in the two previous studies, the following improvements were implemented. ...
... Further, a third of this sample (n = 6) belonged to a major other than music (film media, foreign language, and biochemistry). This variety may indicate that, despite being focused on a music intervention, the bounded research study in this CURE (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019b) may be implemented among students with varied research and music experience. On the other hand, students without music background did seem to struggle with the music components and with understanding the purpose and relevance of the study, as observed in their final papers. ...
Introduction: Research skill development is a current need in music therapy education. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) may address this need. The purpose of this study was (a) to replicate a CURE for students enrolled in a required music psychology course at a university in the United States, (b) to measure student outcomes, and (c) to compare results with the original study.
Method: Students (N = 17) completed the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment (URSSA) and the Research Skill Development Questionnaire (RSDQ), as outcome measures. Likert-type items on the URSSA were analyzed using descriptive statistics; open-ended responses were evaluated through content analysis. Independent-sample t tests were used to compare average scores in the URSSA subscales (Thinking Like a Scientist, Personal Gains, Research Skills, and Attitudes and Behaviors) between the original and replication study.
Results: No significant differences were found between the original and current studies, indicating the replication of results. Similar to the original study, open-ended responses indicated an interest in graduate school, greater understanding of research, appreciation of hands-on experience, and plans to use research in their career. For suggestions for improvement, most students in both studies indicated an interest in being more involved and learning more about statistics. In the current study, students’ RSDQ pre and posttest subscale scores showed significant improvement in Research Dispositions (paired-sample t tests).
Discussion: These results indicate the feasibility of using CURE projects to support research skill development and the feasibility of replicating a protocolized experience in a university program with different research traditions and resources.
... Given the differences in cognitive and neural responses to music among musicians and nonmusicians, it stands to reason that a mindfulness meditation with music would have dissimilar results among these groups. A previous study by Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz (2019) investigated the effectiveness, preference, and usefulness of music stimuli of increasing complexity on mindfulness practice in non-musicians. Participants listened to four conditions: recorded voice of instructions for mindfulness meditation (i.e., Script condition); the Script with a bass sound played on a steady beat (i.e., Beat condition); the Script with Beat and harmonic accompaniment played by sampled strings (i.e., Harmony condition); and the Script, Beat, Harmony, and melody played by a sampled viola (i.e., Melody condition). ...
... The ability and willingness to be "drawn in deeply [by a musical stimulus]" is a trait that could explain dissimilar findings in music perception and music intervention research (Sandstrom & Russo, 2013). In Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz (2019), researchers found that absorption in music seemed to mediate participants' responses to the musical stimuli. ...
... In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of and preference for different aural stimuli in supporting mindfulness meditation for musicians, while controlling for absorption in music. We also compared these results with responses from non-musicians in the previous study (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019). The research questions included the following: ...
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of and preference for different auditory stimuli on mindfulness meditation in musicians. A second purpose was to compare musician responses with non-musician responses from a previous study. A repeated-measures design exposed participants to four auditory stimuli of increased complexity. Participants (N = 49) were undergraduate musicians with limited mindfulness experience. Data included absorption in music, mindfulness, and preference and usefulness of auditory stimuli. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance, with absorption of music as a covariate, found no significant differences between stimuli on mindfulness meditation according to musicians. Friedman’s analyses of variance indicated that musician rankings of usefulness and preference were significantly different among conditions. Both musicians and non-musicians ranked Melody and Harmony conditions as most preferred and most useful for mindfulness meditation. A mixed effects model with both groups indicated not only a significant effect of auditory stimuli on mindfulness but also interaction due to group status. A significant result was only obtained when the covariate was not considered. Absorption in music scores between groups was significantly higher for musicians than non-musicians. These outcomes support the hypothesis that absorption in music and music expertise may mediate the effect of a music intervention. Clinical implications are discussed.
... It has become increasingly evident that music, which is the sounds that are sung by voices or played on musical instruments, plays a significant role in affecting meditation effectiveness. This can be supported by that music can be regarded as a support for mindfulness meditation (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019). By contrast, there is someone who considers the music as a distraction during the meditation process. ...
... This study uses two questionnaires: One is the pre-questionnaire, which is used to collect participants' raw sleep and mood data through closed questions, and the post-questionnaire, which is mainly used in collecting participants' data after the meditation, analyzing it, and helping to get the conclusion. The ranking scale of the questionnaires' closed questions, which is from 1 = nothing changes to 5 = completely changes, references the study which has mentioned ranked rating of usefulness and preferences in their study, from 1 = most useful to 4 = least useful (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019), which offers a useful insight to this experiment, while there is a study which suggested that two questionnaires were completed immediately before and after each 30-minute meditation intervention (Philips et al., 2019). It is important however that we treat this information with caution, since some participants may not have enough patience to complete two questionnaires at once, so some data may not be much valid. ...
... It has become increasingly evident that music, which is the sounds that are sung by voices or played on musical instruments, plays a significant role in affecting meditation effectiveness. This can be supported by that music can be regarded as a support for mindfulness meditation [8]. By contrast, there is someone who considers the music as a distraction during the meditation process. ...
... This study uses two questionnaires, one is the pre-questionnaire, which is used to collect participants' raw sleep and mood data through closed questions, and the post-questionnaire, which is mainly used in collecting participants' data after the meditation, analyzing it, and helping to get the conclusion. The ranking scale of the questionnaires' closed questions, which is from 1 = nothing changes to 5 = completely changes, references the study which had mentioned ranked rating of usefulness and preferences in their study, from 1 = most useful to 4 = least useful [8], offers a useful insight to this experiment. While there is a study which suggested that two questionnaires were completed immediately before and after each 30-minute meditation intervention [15]. ...
... Activation/arousal can be used to measure the psychophysiological and neurophysiological intensity induced by music (Barrett et al., 2010;Trost et al., 2012;Vuoskoski and Eerola, 2012;Ellison et al., 2015) and the intensity of the psychophysiological and neurophysiological activation in the domain-general model of emotion (Hölzel et al., 2011a;Bueno et al., 2015;Andreu et al., 2019;Bailey et al., 2019). To facilitate the measurement of the degree of relaxation induced by mindfulness meditation training (Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019;Hernandez-Ruiz and Dvorak, 2020;Loo et al., 2020) and music listening (Baylan et al., 2018;Sorensen et al., 2018), this study selected tension as an indicator of the psychophysiological response of the participants. ...
... Mindfulness-based music listening can increase listening sensitivity and enjoyment (Anderson, 2016;Baylan et al., 2018), improve well-being (Brown and Ryan, 2003;Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona, 2014;Sorensen et al., 2018;Loo et al., 2020), enhance body awareness and listening experiences (Diaz, 2013;Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona, 2014), and decrease psychological stress and anxiety symptoms (Tomaselli, 2014). Specific musical activities, such as listening to mindfulness music, chorus training, music performance, and music creation, could induce a state of mindfulness meditation, which moderates the absorption of musical stimuli by the participants and affects their emotional experiences (Bell et al., 2016;Lynch and Wilson, 2017;Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019). ...
Mindfulness meditation is a form of self-regulatory training for the mind and the body. The relationship between mindfulness meditation and musical aesthetic emotion processing (MAEP) remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect of temporary mindfulness meditation on MAEP while listening to Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works. A 2 [(groups: mindfulness meditation group (MMG); control group (CG)] × 3 (music emotions: calm music, happy music, and sad music) mixed experimental design and a convenience sample of university students were used to verify our hypotheses, which were based on the premise that temporary mindfulness meditation may affect MAEP (MMG vs. CG). Sixty-seven non-musically trained participants (65.7% female, age range: 18-22 years) were randomly assigned to two groups (MMG or CG). Participants in MMG were given a single 10-min recorded mindfulness meditation training before and when listening to music. The instruments for psychological measurement comprised of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Self-report results showed no significant between-group differences for PANAS and for the scores of four subscales of the FFMQ (p > 0.05 throughout), except for the non-judging of inner experience subscale. Results showed that temporary mindfulness meditation training decreased the negative emotional experiences of happy and sad music and the positive emotional experiences of calm music during recognition and experience and promoted beautiful musical experiences in individuals with no musical training. Maintaining a state of mindfulness while listening to music enhanced body awareness and led to experiencing a faster passage of musical time. In addition, it was found that Chinese classical folk instrumental musical works effectively induced aesthetic emotion and produced multidimensional aesthetic experiences among non-musically trained adults. This study provides new insights into the relationship between mindfulness and music emotion.
... Research suggests that music with low complexity is associated with decreased activation in the DMN [92], an area of the brain found to be associated with mind wandering [93]. Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz [94] compared four different music stimuli ranging in complexity and reported that the least complex music was the most effective accompaniment to mindfulness meditation. However, when absorption was considered [95], the effect disappeared. ...
Chanting is practiced in many religious and secular traditions and involves rhythmic vocalization or mental repetition of a sound or phrase. This study examined how chanting relates to cognitive function, altered states, and quality of life across a wide range of traditions. A global survey was used to assess experiences during chanting including flow states, mystical experiences, mindfulness, and mind wandering. Further, attributes of chanting were assessed to determine their association with altered states and cognitive benefits, and whether psychological correlates of chanting are associated with quality of life. Responses were analyzed from 456 English speaking participants who regularly chant across 32 countries and various chanting traditions. Results revealed that different aspects of chanting were associated with distinctive experiential outcomes. Stronger intentionality (devotion, intention, sound) and higher chanting engagement (experience, practice duration, regularity) were associated with altered states and cognitive benefits. Participants whose main practice was call and response chanting reported higher scores of mystical experiences. Participants whose main practice was repetitive prayer reported lower mind wandering. Lastly, intentionality and engagement were associated with quality of life indirectly through altered states and cognitive benefits. This research sheds new light on the phenomenology and psychological consequences of chanting across a range of practices and traditions.
... Our particular interest is in electroencephalogram (EEG) modulated interactive soundscapes. Sound is a sensory modality with potential to provide a sense of immersion conducive to meditation [26]. EEGs provide data on changes in brainwave activity associated with qualities of attention and how busy or quiet the mind is. ...
Walking meditation is a form of mindfulness training, where the act of walking provides a rhythmic meter for attentional focus. Numerous digital technologies have been created to support sitting meditation and walking practices, however, less explored is the influence of these technologies on the first person in-the-moment experience of walking meditation. In this paper, we present a study of group walking meditation,with and without an interactive soundscape that is modulated by one practitioner’s brain wave data. In orderto understand and design the interactive experience, we developed qualitative methods for data collection of the first person experience of walking meditation. Six workshops were conducted with both novice and more advanced practitioners, involving a guided walking meditation with body scan, structured writing and drawing exercises for elicitation and reflection, and a group interview. Our contribution is twofold: a descriptive model of the experience of walking meditation as represented by the analytic themes of shifting state, attention,self-regulation strategy, and immersion and reflection, together with body maps and experience timelines that visually represent patterns in the data; and a workbook comprising the set of phenomenologically inspired data collection methods, which helps participants articulate their first person experience and enhances their ability to reflect on the practice of walking meditation. The results provide insight into how practitioners divide and shift their attention between the rhythm of walking, breathing and the soundscape; and how some are able to harmonise the multiple dimensions towards a flow experience. Our study contributes to and provide resources for the experience design of interactive technologies to support mindfulness practices of walking meditation, as well as other practices where the mind/body experience is central.
... Dvorak and Hernandez-Ruiz (2019b) facilitated a CURE in a required psychology of music course. The researchers embedded a study involving the comparison of music stimuli to support mindfulness meditation for nonmusicians (Dvorak & Hernandez-Ruiz, 2019a) into the course and used the study as a foundation to teach and engage students in the research process, as well as course content. After the CURE, students reported moderate gains across three areas: thinking and working like a scientist, personal gains, and research skills. ...
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) involve entire classes of students in addressing research questions or problems of interest to the scientific community. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the available literature for CUREs and explore implications and best practices for inclusion in music therapy education and training. The research questions included: (a) What are the characteristics of course-based undergraduate research experiences (i.e., participants, grade level, course, field of study, course type, duration, terminology, study design)? (b) What are the outcomes of course-based research experiences and how are these outcomes measured? Searching ERIC, PubMed, and Web of Science, authors identified articles published between 2000–2017 meeting criteria. Of 5,809 articles, 54 met inclusion criteria: published quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods study; involved undergraduate students; and the intervention met the five dimensions of CURE models. The majority of CURE studies were implemented in one-semester required courses in the life sciences for a variety of student grade levels. CURE outcomes frequently included increased research knowledge, increased course content knowledge and skills, improved attitudes and beliefs, general perceptions of the learning experience, and improved course satisfaction. CURE measurement tools were varied, but several used a researcher-created posttest, standard university course evaluations, researcher-created pretests/posttests, or standardized research skill development surveys. The majority of studies indicated a positive student response to CURE implementation. Implications and recommendations for music therapy education and training are discussed.
La atención plena (mindfulness) se ha vuelto cada vez más popular en espacios terapéuticos y no terapéuticos como una manera de abordar el estrés, el cambio y la incertidumbre. Aquí compartimos nuestra comprensión de la práctica de la atención plena y un resumen de los hallazgos de cuatro estudios exploratorios sobre los estímulos musicales originales que pueden respaldar estas prácticas. Compartimos las características musicales específicas que los participantes en nuestros cuatro estudios iniciales prefirieron y encontraron efectivas y útiles. Todavía es necesario realizar más investigación para determinar resultados clínicos. Sin embargo, esta información puede proporcionar un punto de partida para que los musicoterapeutas exploren la creación de su propia música para la práctica de la atención plena. Se proporcionan referencias a los reportes de investigación publicados para el profesional interesado.
The greying of the world is leading to a rapid acceleration in both the healthcare costs and caregiver burden that are associated with dementia. There is an urgent need to develop new, easily scalable modalities of support. This perspective paper presents the theoretical background, rationale, and development plans for a music-based digital therapeutic to manage the neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia, particularly agitation and anxiety. We begin by presenting the findings of a survey we conducted with key opinion leaders. The findings highlight the value of a music-based digital therapeutic for treating neuropsychiatric symptoms, particularly agitation and anxiety. We then consider the neural substrates of these neuropsychiatric symptoms before going on to evaluate randomized control trials on the efficacy of music-based interventions in their treatment. Finally, we present our development plans for the adaptation of an existing music-based digital therapeutic that was previously shown to be efficacious in the treatment of adult anxiety symptoms.
Pandemi Covid-19 memberikan dampak terhadap kegiatan pembelajaran siswa di sekolah. Hal ini dikarenakan untuk meminimalisir virus Covid-19, proses pembelajaran tatap muka menjadi berbasis online. Sehingga, salah satu cara untuk melakukan kegiatan pembelajaran berbasis online dengan e-learning. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kebutuhan siswa Sekolah Menengah Atas (SMA) untuk mengelola stres akademik mereka selama pembelajaran berbasis online. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah pendekatan survei dengan mengumpulkan data melalui penyebaran angket kepada 87 siswa SMA Perguruan Cikini Jakarta. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa 71.2% kondisi stres akademik siswa SMA Perguruan Cikini dikategorikan sedang. Selain itu, 17.4% siswa mengalami tingkat stres akademik yang tinggi. Selain itu, 66% siswa memiliki kecenderungan pada aspek mindfulness dengan kategori sedang. Sehingga, diperlukan langkah-langkah untuk mengelola stres akademik yaitu terapi mindfulness . Namun, 64.4% siswa menyatakan bahwa mereka tertarik untuk melalukan terapi mindfulness melalui aplikasi agar dapat mengelola stres akademik. Selain itu, mereka juga membutuhkan pengetahuan dan informasi terkait kesehatan mental. Oleh karena itu, diperlukan pengembangan lebih lanjut terkait pengelolaan stres akademik melalui terapi mindfulness berbasis aplikasi android.
Self-efficacy is an important factor determining an individual's intention to use digital devices. In particular, self-efficacy with digital devices is significant for older adults as it not only affects their intention to use but may also improve their overall quality of life. However, little research has sought to identify antecedent factors that can enhance digital self-efficacy in older adults. This study focuses on music service experience using digital devices, which is a preceding factor of self-efficacy. It aims to identify the relationship between the experience of using digital music services and self-efficacy, and examines the mediating role of both enjoyment and anxiety in this relationship. To address the research questions, we collected and analyzed survey data from 623 Koreans aged over 60 years. As expected, digital music service experience was significantly related to self-efficacy, and both enjoyment and anxiety were found to be significant mediators of this relationship. The findings revealed the relation between the experience of using digital music services, affection, and self-efficacy, making it possible to derive practical suggestions for encouraging older adults to use digital devices.
Research on specific qualities of music used for relaxation has shown conflicting results. The use of different familiar or pre-composed pieces, with many simultaneous changes, might limit the ability to discriminate which musical element is responsible for the relaxation response. To address the latter, we examined the relaxing effects of music on three psychophysiological measures (heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance) with one original piece of music, and three modified versions (altering one musical element in each version). We investigated whether participants’ psychophysiological responses reflected a more “relaxed” state (lower heart rate, respiration rate, and skin conductance) with slower tempo (45 bpm), mellow timbre (bass clarinet), or smaller amplitude (-10 dB). We also investigated whether psychophysiological responses were consistent with self-report scores. Visual inspection of psychophysiological data indicated two distinct responder profiles, and a logistic regression confirmed this distinction. Using mixed ANCOVAs, we found significant differences between participants (responders and non-responders) in skin conductance level. No correlations between psychophysiological measures and self-reports were found. These findings raise interesting questions regarding the mechanisms behind the relaxing effects of music.
This study investigated the inverted-U model of preference for music as a function of collative variables (especially familiarity and complexity) over the last 115 years. The results of 57 studies on music preference were categorized according to their patterns of preference. Fifty of the 57 studies (87.7%) were categorized as compatible with an overarching (segmented) inverted-U model, while the results of five studies (8.8%) were interpreted as mixed, showing both compatible and incompatible results. Two studies (3.5%) were categorized as completely incompatible with the model. In contrast to authors who describe the model as defunct, this review has observed that studies producing results compatible with the inverted-U are still prevalent. We propose that while there may be inconsistencies with Berlyne’s psychobiological theory from a scientific, arousal-based standpoint, the inverted-U model is able to explain a considerable amount of data. Rather, it seems that research interests have moved elsewhere, but caution is urged in asserting denial or dismissal of the relationship in music preference research.
Problems with attention and symptom distress are common clinical features reported by women who receive adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Mindfulness practice significantly improves attention and mindfulness programs significantly reduce symptom distress in patients with cancer, and, more specifically, in women with breast cancer. Recently, a pilot investigation of a music therapy program, built on core attitudes of mindfulness practice, reported significant benefits of enhanced attention and decreased negative mood and fatigue in women with breast cancer. This paper delineates the design and development of the mindfulness-based music therapy (MBMT) program implemented in that pilot study and includes clients’ narrative journal responses. Conclusions and recommendations, including recommendation for further exploration of the function of music in mindfulness practice are provided.
Music reduces pain in fibromyalgia (FM), a chronic pain disease, but the functional neural correlates of music-induced analgesia (MIA) are still largely unknown. We recruited FM patients (n = 22) who listened to their preferred relaxing music and an auditory control (pink noise) for 5 min without external noise from fMRI image acquisition. Resting state fMRI was then acquired before and after the music and control conditions. A significant increase in the amplitude of low frequency fluctuations of the BOLD signal was evident in the left angular gyrus (lAnG) after listening to music, which in turn, correlated to the analgesia reports. The post-hoc seed-based functional connectivity analysis of the lAnG showed found higher connectivity after listening to music with right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rdlPFC), the left caudate (lCau), and decreased connectivity with right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), right supplementary motor area (rSMA), precuneus and right precentral gyrus (rPreG). Pain intensity (PI) analgesia was correlated (r = 0.61) to the connectivity of the lAnG with the rPreG. Our results show that MIA in FM is related to top-down regulation of the pain modulatory network by the default mode network (DMN).
While the music psychology and education literatures have devoted considerable attention to how musical instrumentalists practice their instruments, less formal scholarly attention has been given in consideration of what it means to maintain a musical "practice" over time and across context. In this paper, the practice of mindfulness meditation is used as heuristic, arguing for a view of mindfulness meditation as a formalized de-specialization of the infinite number of other activities with which people can achieve mindfulness. Sitting meditation, requiring of one to observe the contents of their mind unmediated, can serve as a useful model for the musician in understanding the phenomenology of the music-making process and the "flow" states that can result from an embodied musical practice. Finally, reconceptualizing music-making as a mindfulness practice is considered with psychological and pedagogical implications relevant for developing musicians.
GLIMMPSE is a free, web-based software tool that calculates power and sample size for the general linear multivariate model with Gaussian errors (http://glimmpse.SampleSizeShop.org/). GLIMMPSE provides a user-friendly interface for the computation of power and sample size. We consider models with fixed predictors, and models with fixed predictors and a single Gaussian covariate. Validation experiments demonstrate that GLIMMPSE matches the accuracy of previously published results, and performs well against simulations. We provide several online tutorials based on research in head and neck cancer. The tutorials demonstrate the use of GLIMMPSE to calculate power and sample size.
Despite the rise in research investigating music and emotion over the last decade, there are no validated measures of individual differences in emotional responses to music. We created the Absorption in Music Scale (AIMS), a 34-item measure of individuals' ability and willingness to allow music to draw them into an emotional experience. It was evaluated with a sample of 166 participants, and exhibits good psychometric properties. The scale converges well with measures of similar constructs, and shows reliability over time. Importantly, in a test of criterion validity, emotional responses to music were correlated with the AIMS scale but not correlated with measures of empathy or music training.
We investigated the neural underpinnings of timbral, tonal, and rhythmic features of a naturalistic musical stimulus. Participants were scanned with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while listening to a stimulus with a rich musical structure, a modern tango. We correlated temporal evolutions of timbral, tonal, and rhythmic features of the stimulus, extracted using acoustic feature extraction procedures, with the fMRI time series. Results corroborate those obtained with controlled stimuli in previous studies and highlight additional areas recruited during musical feature processing. While timbral feature processing was associated with activations in cognitive areas of the cerebellum, and sensory and default mode network cerebrocortical areas, musical pulse and tonality processing recruited cortical and subcortical cognitive, motor and emotion-related circuits. In sum, by combining neuroimaging, acoustic feature extraction and behavioral methods, we revealed the large-scale cognitive, motor and limbic brain circuitry dedicated to acoustic feature processing during listening to a naturalistic stimulus. In addition to these novel findings, our study has practical relevance as it provides a powerful means to localize neural processing of individual acoustical features, be it those of music, speech, or soundscapes, in ecological settings.
"Mindfulness" is a capacity for heightened present-moment awareness that we all possess to a greater or lesser extent. Enhancing this capacity through training has been shown to alleviate stress and promote physical and mental well-being. As a consequence, interest in mindfulness is growing and so is the need to better understand it. This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the brain regions involved in state mindfulness and to shed light on its mechanisms of action. Significant signal decreases were observed during mindfulness meditation in midline cortical structures associated with interoception, including bilateral anterior insula, left ventral anterior cingulate cortex, right medial prefrontal cortex, and bilateral precuneus. Significant signal increase was noted in the right posterior cingulate cortex. These findings lend support to the theory that mindfulness achieves its positive outcomes through a process of disidentification.
This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a treatment combining mindfulness meditation and interventions taken from cognitive therapy, in patients suffering from chronic-recurrent depression. Currently symptomatic patients with at least three previous episodes of depression and a history of suicidal ideation were randomly allocated to receive either MBCT delivered in addition to treatment-as-usual (TAU; N=14 completers) or TAU alone (N=14 completers). Depressive symptoms and diagnostic status were assessed before and after treatment phase. Self-reported symptoms of depression decreased from severe to mild levels in the MBCT group while there was no significant change in the TAU group. Similarly, numbers of patients meeting full criteria for depression decreased significantly more in the MBCT group than in the TAU group. Results are consistent with previous uncontrolled studies. Although based on a small sample and, therefore, limited in their generalizability, they provide further preliminary evidence that MBCT can be used to successfully reduce current symptoms in patients suffering from a protracted course of the disorder.
The medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is regarded as a region of the brain that supports self-referential processes, including the integration of sensory information with self-knowledge and the retrieval of autobiographical information. I used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a novel procedure for eliciting autobiographical memories with excerpts of popular music dating to one's extended childhood to test the hypothesis that music and autobiographical memories are integrated in the MPFC. Dorsal regions of the MPFC (Brodmann area 8/9) were shown to respond parametrically to the degree of autobiographical salience experienced over the course of individual 30 s excerpts. Moreover, the dorsal MPFC also responded on a second, faster timescale corresponding to the signature movements of the musical excerpts through tonal space. These results suggest that the dorsal MPFC associates music and memories when we experience emotionally salient episodic memories that are triggered by familiar songs from our personal past. MPFC acted in concert with lateral prefrontal and posterior cortices both in terms of tonality tracking and overall responsiveness to familiar and autobiographically salient songs. These findings extend the results of previous autobiographical memory research by demonstrating the spontaneous activation of an autobiographical memory network in a naturalistic task with low retrieval demands.
The inability to cope successfully with the enormous stress of medical education may lead to a cascade of consequences at both a personal and professional level. The present study examined the short-term effects of an 8-week meditation-based stress reduction intervention on premedical and medical students using a well-controlled statistical design. Findings indicate that participation in the intervention can effectively (1) reduce self-reported state and trait anxiety, (2) reduce reports of overall psychological distress including depression, (3) increase scores on overall empathy levels, and (4) increase scores on a measure of spiritual experiences assessed at termination of intervention. These results (5) replicated in the wait-list control group, (6) held across different experiments, and (7) were observed during the exam period. Future research should address potential long-term effects of mindfulness training for medical and premedical students.
The real world presents our sensory systems with a continuous stream of undifferentiated information. Segmentation of this stream at event boundaries is necessary for object identification and feature extraction. Here, we investigate the neural dynamics of event segmentation in entire musical symphonies under natural listening conditions. We isolated time-dependent sequences of brain responses in a 10 s window surrounding transitions between movements of symphonic works. A strikingly right-lateralized network of brain regions showed peak response during the movement transitions when, paradoxically, there was no physical stimulus. Model-dependent and model-free analysis techniques provided converging evidence for activity in two distinct functional networks at the movement transition: a ventral fronto-temporal network associated with detecting salient events, followed in time by a dorsal fronto-parietal network associated with maintaining attention and updating working memory. Our study provides direct experimental evidence for dissociable and causally linked ventral and dorsal networks during event segmentation of ecologically valid auditory stimuli.
Nostalgia is an emotion that is most commonly associated with personally and socially relevant memories. It is primarily positive in valence and is readily evoked by music. It is also an idiosyncratic experience that varies between individuals based on affective traits. We identified frontal, limbic, paralimbic, and midbrain brain regions in which the strength of the relationship between ratings of nostalgia evoked by music and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal was predicted by affective personality measures (nostalgia proneness and the sadness scale of the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales) that are known to modulate the strength of nostalgic experiences. We also identified brain areas including the inferior frontal gyrus, substantia nigra, cerebellum, and insula in which time-varying BOLD activity correlated more strongly with the time-varying tonal structure of nostalgia-evoking music than with music that evoked no or little nostalgia. These findings illustrate one way in which the reward and emotion regulation networks of the brain are recruited during the experiencing of complex emotional experiences triggered by music. These findings also highlight the importance of considering individual differences when examining the neural responses to strong and idiosyncratic emotional experiences. Finally, these findings provide a further demonstration of the use of time-varying stimulus-specific information in the investigation of music-evoked experiences.
The Book is the Italian Edition of M-M: Linehan DBT skills training manual pp.900
There are great individual differences in musical experiences. According to former observations and questionnaire studies, the capacity for being involved in music is characteristic of a person. The aims of the present study were to discover whether the phenomenological change in one's experiences induced by music shows differences depending on the intensity of musical involvement and type of music in a laboratory setting. Intensity of musical involvement was measured by the Musical Involvement Scale among 500 university students. High and low involvers were chosen for the laboratory experiments (N=125). Subjects listened to one of three musical pieces alone, in a darkened room. They reported about their experiences in a free report, in an interview, and they filled in the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory. Results were compared considering the intensity of involvement and type of music. We found significant differences between the experiences of high and low musical involver participants. Results show that in comparison to low involvers, high musical involvers experienced increased imagery, more physical experiences, movements, positive feelings and focused attention. They showed greater alterations in meaning, perception, time sense, body image, consciousness and self-awareness. Trance-like experiences occur mainly in the experiences of high involvers. There were significant pattern differences between the phenomenological experiences for the musical pieces, too. Intensity of involvement and type of music has a great effect on musical experiences. The results can assist music therapy considerations and further studies on musical experiences.
The auditory scene is a mental representation of individual sounds extracted from the summed sound waveform reaching the ears of the listeners. Musical contexts represent particularly complex cases of auditory scenes. In such a scenario, melody may be seen as the main object moving on a background represented by the accompaniment. Both melody and accompaniment vary in time according to harmonic rules, forming a typical texture with melody in the most prominent, salient voice. In the present sparse acquisition functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we investigated the interplay between melody and accompaniment in trained pianists, by observing the activation responses elicited by processing: (1) melody placed in the upper and lower texture voices, leading to, respectively, a higher and lower auditory salience; (2) harmonic violations occurring in either the melody, the accompaniment, or both. The results indicated that the neural activation elicited by the processing of polyphonic compositions in expert musicians depends upon the upper versus lower position of the melodic line in the texture, and showed an overall greater activation for the harmonic processing of melody over accompaniment. Both these two predominant effects were characterized by the involvement of the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, among other associative brain regions. We discuss the prominent role of the posterior medial cortex in the processing of melodic and harmonic information in the auditory stream, and propose to frame this processing in relation to the cognitive construction of complex multimodal sensory imagery scenes.
Emotion regulation (ER) is an internal process through which a person maintains a comfortable state of arousal by modulating one or more aspects of emotion. The neural correlates underlying ER suggest an interplay between cognitive control areas and areas involved in emotional reactivity. Although some studies have suggested that music may be a useful tool in ER, few studies have examined the links between music perception/production and the neural mechanisms that underlie ER and resulting implications for clinical music therapy treatment. Objectives of this systematic review were to explore and synthesize what is known about how music and music experiences impact neural structures implicated in ER, and to consider clinical implications of these findings for structuring music stimuli to facilitate ER.
A comprehensive electronic database search resulted in 50 studies that met predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Pertinent data related to the objective were extracted and study outcomes were analyzed and compared for trends and common findings.
Results indicated there are certain music characteristics and experiences that produce desired and undesired neural activation patterns implicated in ER. Desired activation patterns occurred when listening to preferred and familiar music, when singing, and (in musicians) when improvising; undesired activation patterns arose when introducing complexity, dissonance, and unexpected musical events. Furthermore, the connection between music-influenced changes in attention and its link to ER was explored.
Implications for music therapy practice are discussed and preliminary guidelines for how to use music to facilitate ER are shared.
There has been an increased interest in mindfulness and meditation training over the past decade. As evidenced by exponential growth in the number of publications since the beginning of the 21st century, progressively more is becoming known about both the clinical efficacy and underlying neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness training. This paper briefly highlights psychological models of stress that converge between ancient and modern day (e.g., operant conditioning); identifies key brain regions that, with these models, are biologically plausible targets for mindfulness (e.g., posterior cingulate cortex); and discusses recent and emerging findings from neuroimaging studies of meditation therein, including new advances using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback in neurophenomenological studies.
This column is designed to underscore relationally based creative interventions used by counselors and psychotherapists in their practices. Our intention is to provide examples of novel, innovative ways of working with clients in their efforts to deepen self-awareness and their connections with others. Although the interventions within this column will be presented in a linear “how-to” manner, an essential premise of this column is that interventions submitted for publication have a contextual and relational basis. Basic to this column is the therapeutic focus of working through latent hurts and impediments to our clients' health and happiness. Client goals generally involve creating the requisite emotional space needed for genuine relational choice for connection to manifest. If you have created a useful therapy tool or if you have adapted an existing creative tool that you would like to share with readers, please follow submission guidelines in the author information packet available at http://www.creativecounselor.org/Journal.htmlDepression is one of the most common mental health issues. Although drug therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy remain popular and effective treatments, alternative interventions such as the use of music listening and mindfulness practice as interventions during therapy have gained ground. Research on the use of music listening and mindfulness practice shows each to be effective in treating depression. The authors propose a combined intervention called Mindful Music Listening, during which clients with depression use mindfulness skills while listening to music to notice, label, discuss, and learn to manage their emotions. Possible advantages include greater client self-awareness and emotional regulation as well as a strengthened counselor–client relationship.
THIS article is from the manuscript of an address delivered by the national chairman of the MENC Committee on Functional Music at the Functional Music Forum, March 21, at the St. Louis Biennial Convention. Dr. Gaston is professor of music education and chairman of the department at the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Contemporary developments in psychotherapy include mindfulness-based interventions and metacognitive therapy. Both of these approaches incorporate attentional training exercises and meditative activity designed to help clients cope better with rumination, worry, and over-analytical conceptual thinking. Notably, they also use focused listening exercises within established, demonstrably effective treatment protocols. These related practices collectively highlight the promising role of listening, sonic awareness, and mindfulness of sound/music as a means to enhance psychological functioning. Moreover, the paradigm provides a cognitive-attentional framework for understanding the well established, salutary benefits of music listening and may appeal to those many professionals who work in cognitive-behavioral modalities. Examples of clinical materials based on these models are included.
Based on previous research, this study formulates hypotheses concerning (1) the psychophysical relationship between musical tempo and perceived activity, (2) a nonmonotonic hedonic effect of musical tempo on affective responses, and (3) a shift in this preference function due to differences in situational arousal. An experiment manipulates tempo in the same piece ot music at 14 different speeds varying by equal percentage increases. T he findings appear to support (1) a strong psychophysical relationship between a multi-item index of perceived activity and the logarithm of musical tempo, (2) a nonmonotonic hedonic curve wherein affective responses reach their most favourable peak at an intermediate level of musical tempo, and (3) a sympathic shift of this single-peaked preference function to the right with increases in situational arousal.
In this paper we investigate compassion and its place within mindfulness-based approaches. Compassion is an orientation of mind that recognizes pain and the universality of pain in human experience and the capacity to meet that pain with kindness, empathy, equanimity and patience. We outline how learning to meet pain with compassion is part of how people come to live with chronic conditions like recurrent depression. While most mindfulness-based approaches do not explicitly teach compassion, we describe how the structure of the programme and teachers' embodiment enable participants to cultivate compassion in the landscape of suffering. We describe a case example of how this process unfolded for someone through mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
Resting state networks (RSNs) are spontaneous, synchronous, low-frequency oscillations observed in the brains of subjects who are awake but at rest. A particular RSN called the default mode network (DMN) has been shown to exhibit changes associated with neurological disorders such as temporal lobe epilepsy or Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies have also found that differing experimental conditions such as eyes-open versus eyes-closed can produce measurable changes in the DMN. These condition-associated changes have the potential of confounding the measurements of changes in RSNs related to or caused by disease state(s). In this study, we use fMRI measurements of resting-state connectivity paired with EEG measurements of alpha rhythm and employ independent component analysis, undirected graphs of partial spectral coherence, and spatiotemporal regression to investigate the effect of music-listening on RSNs and the DMN in particular. We observed similar patterns of DMN connectivity in subjects who were listening to music compared with those who were not, with a trend toward a more introspective pattern of resting-state connectivity during music-listening. We conclude that music-listening is a valid condition under which the DMN can be studied.
Daily life in today's society is filled with moments of high state anxiety. State anxiety is the amount of anxiety one is
experiencing in the present moment; it is not a personality trait. Many people need simple, cost-effective ways to self-regulate
themselves so they can sleep, be more productive, and attend to their activities of daily life. Therefore, the present study
questioned whether listening to a steady beat will decrease feelings of state anxiety in healthy subjects. Participants (N = 36) between the ages of 20 and 50 volunteered for the study. During this study, experimental anxiety was induced and the
Visual Analog Scale served as the measurement tool for both tests. Subjects in the control group sat in silence, while subjects
in the experimental group listened to a steady beat of 66 beats per minute. The results of an independent-samples t test indicated significant differences between the groups on the posttest measure, t (34) = 2.41, p = .02. Subjects who listened to the steady beat reported less anxiety than subjects who sat in silence. This study suggests
that steady beat alone can reduce state anxiety, thus providing a cost-effective and accessible means for self-regulation
in the midst of high state anxiety.
In this review we are concerned specifically with the putative role of the default-mode network (DMN) in the pathophysiology of mental disorders. First, we define the DMN concept with regard to its neuro-anatomy, its functional organisation through low frequency neuronal oscillations, its relation to other recently discovered low frequency resting state networks, and the cognitive functions it is thought to serve. Second, we introduce methodological and analytical issues and challenges. Third, we describe putative mechanisms proposed to link DMN abnormalities and mental disorders. These include interference by network activity during task performance, altered patterns of antagonism between task specific and non-specific elements, altered connectively and integrity of the DMN, and altered psychological functions served by the network DMN. Fourth, we review the empirical literature systematically. We relate DMN dysfunction to dementia, schizophrenia, epilepsy, anxiety and depression, autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drawing out common and unique elements of the disorders. Finally, we provide an integrative overview and highlight important challenges and tasks for future research.
Administered a questionnaire containing items of varied content believed to be related to hypnotizability to 481 female undergraduates. 2 subsamples of 142 and 171 Ss, respectively, also completed Block's Ego Resiliency and Ego Control questionnaire scales and the Group Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Analysis of the combined questionnaire data yielded 3 replicated higher order factors: the familiar dimensions of Stability and Introversion and a 3rd factor, Absorption. Absorption is interpreted as a disposition for having episodes of "total" attention that fully engage one's representational (i.e., perceptual, enactive, imaginative, and ideational) resources. This kind of attentional functioning is believed to result in a heightened sense of the reality of the attentional object, imperviousness to distracting events, and an altered sense of reality in general, including an empathically altered sense of self. Only Absorption was consistently correlated with hypnotizability. Absorption appears to be of interest for the study of hypnosis and personality. (38 ref)
Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness long believed to promote well-being. This research provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the role of mindfulness in psychological well-being. The development and psychometric properties of the dispositional Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) are described. Correlational, quasi-experimental, and laboratory studies then show that the MAAS measures a unique quality of consciousness that is related to a variety of well-being constructs, that differentiates mindfulness practitioners from others, and that is associated with enhanced self-awareness. An experience-sampling study shows that both dispositional and state mindfulness predict self-regulated behavior and positive emotional states. Finally, a clinical intervention study with cancer patients demonstrates that increases in mindfulness over time relate to declines in mood disturbance and stress.
To assess the potential clinical use, particularly in modulating stress, of changes in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems induced by music, specifically tempo, rhythm, melodic structure, pause, individual preference, habituation, order effect of presentation, and previous musical training.
Measurement of cardiovascular and respiratory variables while patients listened to music.
University research laboratory for the study of cardiorespiratory autonomic function.
12 practising musicians and 12 age matched controls.
After a five minute baseline, presentation in random order of six different music styles (first for a two minute, then for a four minute track), with a randomly inserted two minute pause, in either sequence.
Breathing rate, ventilation, carbon dioxide, RR interval, blood pressure, mid-cerebral artery flow velocity, and baroreflex.
Ventilation, blood pressure, and heart rate increased and mid-cerebral artery flow velocity and baroreflex decreased with faster tempi and simpler rhythmic structures compared with baseline. No habituation effect was seen. The pause reduced heart rate, blood pressure, and minute ventilation, even below baseline. An order effect independent of style was evident for mid-cerebral artery flow velocity, indicating a progressive reduction with exposure to music, independent of style. Musicians had greater respiratory sensitivity to the music tempo than did non-musicians.
Music induces an arousal effect, predominantly related to the tempo. Slow or meditative music can induce a relaxing effect; relaxation is particularly evident during a pause. Music, especially in trained subjects, may first concentrate attention during faster rhythms, then induce relaxation during pauses or slower rhythms.
Large-scale brain networks emerge from dynamic processing of musical timbre and rhythm
- V Alluri
- P Tolviainen
- J P Jääskeläinen
- E Glerean
- M Sams
- E Brattico
Mindfulness for beginners
- J Kabat-Zinn
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Dialectical behavior therapy for wellness and recovery. Interventions and activities for diverse client needs
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A conceptual framework for the use of music in mindfulness practice
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The effect of mindfulness-based music therapy on attention and mood in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: A pilot study
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