Some stroke victims who have lost the ability to speak fluently often are able to sing, says a leading music therapist. But even when you have the beat, it is hard to play music if you cannot move.
Innovations in music technology are making it possible -- and enjoyable -- for people with severe physical disabilities to play and compose music. They also can help restore speech.
Research shows that music therapy is effective in promoting wellness among healthy people, and it has been shown to alleviate pain and improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities.
SINGING HELPS SPEECH RECOVERY
Singing and speaking are neurologically different functions, said Concetta M. Tomaino, who has a doctorate in music therapy. For example, stroke victims can sometimes sing entire lyrics of songs but are unable to speak a simple “Hello.”
Clinical studies conducted by Tomaino and her colleagues, especially Dr. Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain and a British neurologist on the faculty at Columbia University in New York, have shown that singing word phrases such as “Hello, how are you?” affects speech recovery by “rehearsing” speech. By putting regular speech and common phrases into a musical context, patients who have trouble speaking but are conscious and cognizant of what is being said to them are learning to say “Hello” and more.
Tomaino, a trained musician, is executive director of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function and vice president of music therapy at Beth Abraham Family Health Services in New York. “Singing rehearses the speech element in the brain to become functional,” Tomaino told USINFO. "We are now studying the potential effect of singing and related ‘cueing’ on the recovery of speech -- using musical sounds that sound like phrases or putting regular speech phrases into a musical context."
LIVE AND DIGITAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS CAN IMPROVE MOTOR SKILLS
In addition to restoring speech, music therapy can improve motor skills and coordination, according to the American Music Therapy Association.
Most of the music therapy work with stroke patients and people suffering symptoms of neurologic diseases such as Parkinson’s consists of what therapists call “live and in the moment.” Such therapy incorporates live and recorded music and encourages patients to play actual musical instruments.
For some patients suffering physical disabilities and people with brain injuries, therapists use software known as MIDI (Musical Interface Digital Instrument) as an important component of music therapy, Tomaino said.
Companies equip musical instruments with devices that make it possible for individuals with disabilities to hold and play instruments. But for people with little or no ability to move their arms or legs, or to move them in a coordinated way, it has been impossible to play an instrument.
Now patients who need to increase strength and range of motion in their hands and arms can use digital drumsticks, Tomaino said.
OTHER INNOVATIONS IN COMPUTER MUSIC TECHNOLOGY ALSO HELP DISABLED
Similarly, at the REHAB school in Poughkeepsie, New York, physically disabled children and teenagers use tiny movements of their head to make music as part of a project developed by musicians and computer software designers at the Deep Listening Institute in Kingston, New York.
A digital video camera connected to a computer displays an image of the patient on a screen. A cursor placed on some part of the screen image of the head tracks even subtle head movements electronically that translate into musical notes heard through the computer’s speakers. The program can be played in two modes. In piano mode, a movement from side to side plays a piano scale; in percussion mode the same movement creates a drum roll.
The computer program Hyperscore allows people to compose music by scoring it using line graphs comprising a broad range of instrument sounds. Hyperscore was developed by Tod Machover, a professor of music and media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and director of the Opera of the Future project at MIT.
Other organizations developing MIDI software include the Drake Music Project in London. At Drake Music, students with cerebral palsy, including some as young as 11, wear a Cyberlink headband that detects electrical signals from facial and eye movements and even brainwaves. Special software, called Brainfingers at Drake, turns the signals into “fingers” that move the mouse and play notes on the keyboard to create music.
DISABLED CAN USE MUSIC TO EXPAND EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION
Innovations in digital music projects expand the goals of music therapy by providing a mode of creative expression for people with severe physical disabilities, Pauline Oliveros, founder of the Deep Listening Institute, said in a news report.
“Making something empowers,” Oliveros said. “That can be very healing and exciting.”
Tomaino encourages patients to use music to deal with emotional issues, especially when they are unable to express them through speech.
“Nonverbal communication is essential and a first bridge to recovery,” she said.
Additional information on the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function and theDeep Listening Institute is available on the organizations’ Web sites.
SOURCE: http://www.america.gov/st/scitech-english/2007/December/20071212155612bcreklaw6.284732e-02.html
No comments:
Post a Comment