Page 45 - NAMAH-Jul-2020

Namah Song-writing: an effective tool in Music therapy

Music therapy is the clinical and evidence- imaging and brain-wave recordings, has
based use of music interventions to accomplish enabled us to study the higher cognitive
individualised goals within a therapeutic brain functions in vivo of humans. A highly
relationship by a credentialed professional complex picture of brain-processes involved
who has completed an approved music in the creation and perception of music has
therapy programme (1). emerged. Brain research involving music has
shown that music has a distinct influence
Music therapy is an established health on the brain by stimulating physiologically
profession in which music is used within complex cognitive, affective and sensor
a therapeutic relationship to address the motor processes. Furthermore, biomedical
physical, emotional, cognitive, and social researchers have found that music is not
needs of individuals. After assessing the only a highly structured auditory language
strengths and needs of each client, the involving complex perception, cognition, and
qualified music therapist provides the motor-control in the brain, but also that this
indicated treatment, including creating, sensory language can effectively be used to
singing, moving to, and/or listening to music. retrain and re-educate the injured brain (2).
The target population of Music therapy varies
from older adults to children. The Music Translational biomedical research in music
therapy techniques are used to improve has led to the development of ‘clusters’ of
the non-musical behaviour of the client, scientific evidence that show the effectiveness
including speech and communication of specific music interventions. In the late
skills, motor skills, cognition, social and 1990s, researchers and clinicians in music
emotional skills. The target population varies therapy, neurology, and brain sciences began
from children to older adults depending to classify these evidence clusters into a system
on specific functional disorders. Some of of therapeutic techniques that are now known
the functional disorders are as follows:- as Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) (3).
Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease,
Neurologically injured brain, Traumatic Music in psycho-social training and counselling
Brain Injury (TBI), Mental Disorders, Autism (MPC) techniques is using improvisation
Spectrum disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit experiences. Within the context of MPC
Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Attention interventions, the music is utilised to assist
Deficit disorder (ADD), Development apraxia mood- stabilisation, expression of emotion,
of speech, Cerebral palsy and Intellectual clarity of thought and appropriate social
disabilities, including Down syndrome, functioning. Limb and Braun described
Fragile X syndrome, and Williams syndrome. patterns of neural activity involved in
improvisation that differed from those
The role of music in therapy has undergone involved in the performance of over-learned
some dramatic shifts since the early 1990s, music. Using functional magnetic resonance
driven by new insights from research into imaging (MRI), they found a significant
music and brain function. In particular dissociated pattern of activity whereby
the advent of modern research techniques improvisation resulted in the activation of
in cognitive neuroscience, such as brain the medial prefrontal cortex and deactivation

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