Dr.
Jaak Panksepp/Bowling Green University
performed this independant study of
EASe
...From
the Lost and Found Newsletter of The Memorial Foundation
for Lost Children,
708 East Wooster Street,
Bowling Green, OH, 43402
Lost
& Found Volume 2, No. 4 |
Perspectives on Brain, Emotions, and Culture |
A quarterly newsletter from the Memorial Foundation for Lost Children |
Music-based
therapies are becoming a popular treatment modality for various psychiatric disorders,
including autism-(see Book Review, this issue). They range from the Tomatis approach,
to various newer forms of Auditory Integration Training (AIT). There are now CDs
available for home AIT-type training (see info on EASE Disc below), and additional
auditory treatment modalities are emerging (e.g., see the work of Dr, Steven Porges
in the January 13 issue of U.S. News and World Report, p.54). A program, developed
by Talal & Merznick will soon be available, to allow language delayed children
to develop new language skills by slowing down key aspects of the language input
(See Spring Issue of L & F). How the various auditory training procedures
work, indeed, whether it can be demonstrated that they do in fact work under rigorous
testing conditions, remains to be scientifically demonstrated for most procedures.
Probably the most scientific evidence is available for the utility of AIT,
but the recent regulation of AIT technology by the FCA (presently classified as
Class III or most regulated devices) has made this modality increasingly less
accessible to the public. Indeed, even though some well-controlled data is available
for AIT (Rimland & Edelson, 1995) there is presently no compelling evidence
that either the filtering for modulation produced by AIT devices is critically
essential for the benefits to be obtained from music therapy. Indeed, in on of
the largest systematic studies, Bettison (1996) found that as much benefit was
obtained from listening to unfiltered and unmodulated music as from the "treated"
music.
Although
every study is bound to have some flaws and alternative explanations (this is
always the case with even the best scientific trials), it presently seems quite
likely that certain music-based experiences have real benefits for the growth
and development of various special children, autistic and otherwise. Thus, intensive
research efforts need to be undertaken to properly evaluate the effects of music
on the progressions of autistic disorders as well as normal development.
To
model the brain effects of AIT, we recently initiated a series of animal studies
to evaluate how music might effect brain functions. Here, we will summarize some
of our recent work on neurochemical changes in the brains of newborn domestic
chicks following exposure to an AIT-type program for ten days. The results have
been rather spectacular, and for us they are a clarion-call for more research
on this important topic.
We have done the following experiment three
times now, and the results, with small variations, have been quite similar. We
will only briefly summarize the most recent study completed a few months ago.
Four separate groups of chicks were systematically exposed to four auditory conditions.
Two groups received musical treatment, one with the CD of AIT-type modulated music
(EASe Disc 1, produced by Bill Mueller, are available from - Vision Audio Inc.,
611 Anchor Drive, Joppa, MD 21085; Tel. 410-679-1605). The other group received
the same unmodulated music for ten successive days (half an hour in the morning
and half hour in the afternoon, provided by open-field speakers at an average
volume of about 86 db). One control group received no music, and the other was
exposed to an audio tape of human voices (both male and female).
In our
past work, such music has mildly facilitated the growth of the chicks and had
some reliable effects on emotionality, however, the biggest effects have been
on brain chemistries: Our largest results from the most recent series are depicted
in the following figure, and it's noteworthy that both the modulated and unmodulated
music had quite similar effects:
Two
days following termination of the treatment, brain norepinephrine (NE) and its
principle metabolite (MHPG) were dramatically elevated. similar effects, albeit
more modest, were seen for brain dopamine and its main metabolite HVA, with no
clear effects on brain serotonin and epinephrine. The NE effects were unexpectedly
large, and it is known that NE activity promotes attentional processes within
the brain, It is also the type of brain change that is thought to mediate the
antidepressant effects of tricyclic drugs such a desipramine.
How long
these effect will last following termination of the treatment, and whether comparable
effects occur in the human brain remain unknown, of course. Likewise, whether
the effects are truly a result of music, as opposed to simply a result of fluctuating
sounds, must be answered by future research. In any case, we have been pleasantly
surprised that music could have such profound, and seemingly beneficial, effects
on brain neurochemical dynamics. How such effects are generated in the brain must
await additional research, but it is hard to imagine that changes of such magnitude
could be achieved without some direct effect on the genetic machinery which regulates
the synthesis of NE. We presently suspect that the attention-grabbing aspects
of music may effectively activate certain genetic programs and exercise certain
major brain neurotransmitter systems of the brain, such as the NE containing nerve
cells of the locus coeruleus (i.e., the "blue area," which is known
to regulate all of brain activity). Since this part of the brain is especially
responsive to transient, attention-grabbing stimuli, perhaps the natural fluctuation
of music, as well as more intense AIT-induced modulation of music, are especially
effective ways to exercise these neural circuits. In any event, we are impressed
by these effects, and would encourage investigators to pursue these leads intensively.
It is widely accepted that music is the "language of the soul,"
and the utility of music in the lives of autistic people, as well as those with
other problems such as depression, needs to be more fully considered. However,
it will be a long time before definitive data will be available for humans for
the relevant brain changes cannot be easily measured. Thus, I suspect, wise parents
will be giving their children systematic exposure to carefully selected music
– namely utilizing pieces of music that have had some informal track-record
in helping other children. CD's such as those used in this study, may be quite
effective choices, but it remains possible that any attention-grabbing music may
work equally well.
The only thing we can be certain of at the present
time is that music, provided in limited doses and at modest volumes, cannot hurt
children. Since, the potential benefits may be substantial, it seems reasonable
to make high quality music part of the daily diet of growing children, especially
those who seem to be aloof from their social world. A variety of interesting pro-social
activities could be combined with the musical experiences, l with both parent
and child listening in on separate headphones (lead splitters for earphones are
readily available from all audio outlet).
Finally, perhaps we will eventually
have medications which simulate some of the effects of the music. We we will discuss
in the Spring issue of L & F, we have found one such agent in our animal studies
(a serotonin receptor blocking agent called cyproheptadine). Even though we might
expect this agent to worsen autistic symptoms from the perspective that autistic
children have low serotonin activity, for various reasons we suspect that this
old medication may provide symptomatic relief for certain autistic symptoms, including
commonly encountered appetite problems. But more on that in the Spring issue.
Bettison,S.
(1996).The long-term effects of auditory training on children with autism. Journal
of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26: 361-374.
Rimland, B.,
& Edelson, S.M. (1995). Auditory integration training in autism: A pilot study.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25: 61-70
