Plasticity in the sensorimotor cortex induced by Music-supported therapy in stroke patients: a TMS study.

Playing a musical instrument demands the engagement of different neural systems. Recent studies about the musician"s brain and musical training highlight that this activity requires the close interaction between motor and somatosensory systems. Moreover, neuroplastic changes have been reported in motor-related areas after short and long-term musical training. Because of its capacity to promote neuroplastic changes, music has been used in the context of stroke neurorehabilitation. The majority of patients suffering from a stroke have motor impairments, preventing them to live independently. Thus, there is an increasing demand for effective restorative interventions for neurological deficits. Music-supported Therapy (MST) has been recently developed to restore motor deficits. We report data of a selected sample of stroke patients who have been enrolled in a MST program (1 month intense music learning). Prior to and after the therapy, patients were evaluated with different behavioral motor tests. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was applied to evaluate changes in the sensorimotor representations underlying the motor gains observed. Several parameters of excitability of the motor cortex were assessed as well as the cortical somatotopic representation of a muscle in the affected hand. Our results revealed that participants obtained significant motor improvements in the paretic hand and those changes were accompanied by changes in the excitability of the motor cortex. Thus, MST leads to neuroplastic changes in the motor cortex of stroke patients which may explain its efficacy.

Plasticity in the sensorimotor cortex induced by Music-supported therapy in stroke patients: a TMS study.

Playing a musical instrument demands the engagement of different neural systems. Recent studies about the musician"s brain and musical training highlight that this activity requires the close interaction between motor and somatosensory systems. Moreover, neuroplastic changes have been reported in motor-related areas after short and long-term musical training. Because of its capacity to promote neuroplastic changes, music has been used in the context of stroke neurorehabilitation. The majority of patients suffering from a stroke have motor impairments, preventing them to live independently. Thus, there is an increasing demand for effective restorative interventions for neurological deficits. Music-supported Therapy (MST) has been recently developed to restore motor deficits. We report data of a selected sample of stroke patients who have been enrolled in a MST program (1 month intense music learning). Prior to and after the therapy, patients were evaluated with different behavioral motor tests. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) was applied to evaluate changes in the sensorimotor representations underlying the motor gains observed. Several parameters of excitability of the motor cortex were assessed as well as the cortical somatotopic representation of a muscle in the affected hand. Our results revealed that participants obtained significant motor improvements in the paretic hand and those changes were accompanied by changes in the excitability of the motor cortex. Thus, MST leads to neuroplastic changes in the motor cortex of stroke patients which may explain its efficacy.

Structural changes induced by daily music listening in the recovering brain after middle cerebral artery stroke: a voxel-based morphometry study

Music is a highly complex and versatile stimulus for the brain that engages many temporal, frontal, parietal, cerebellar, and subcortical areas involved in auditory, cognitive, emotional, and motor processing. Regular musical activities have been shown to effectively enhance the structure and function of many brain areas, making music a potential tool also in neurological rehabilitation. In our previous randomized controlled study, we found that listening to music on a daily basis can improve cognitive recovery and improve mood after an acute middle cerebral artery stroke. Extending this study, a voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis utilizing cost function masking was performed on the acute and 6-month post-stroke stage structural magnetic resonance imaging data of the patients (n = 49) who either listened to their favorite music [music group (MG), n = 16] or verbal material [audio book group (ABG), n = 18] or did not receive any listening material [control group (CG), n = 15] during the 6-month recovery period. Although all groups showed significant gray matter volume (GMV) increases from the acute to the 6-month stage, there was a specific network of frontal areas [left and right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), right medial SFG] and limbic areas [left ventral/subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (SACC) and right ventral striatum (VS)] in patients with left hemisphere damage in which the GMV increases were larger in the MG than in the ABG and in the CG. Moreover, the GM reorganization in the frontal areas correlated with enhanced recovery of verbal memory, focused attention, and language skills, whereas the GM reorganization in the SACC correlated with reduced negative mood. This study adds on previous results, showing that music listening after stroke not only enhances behavioral recovery, but also induces fine-grained neuroanatomical changes in the recovering brain.

Stage fright: its experience as a problem and coping with it.

PURPOSE AND METHOD: This questionnaire survey of 190 university music students assessed negative feelings of music performance anxiety (MPA) before performing, the experience of stage fright as a problem, and how closely they are associated with each other. The study further investigated whether the experience of stage fright as a problem and negative feelings of MPA predict the coping behavior of the music students. Rarely addressed coping issues were assessed, i.e., self-perceived effectiveness of different coping strategies, knowledge of possible risks and acceptance of substance-based coping strategies, and need for more support.RESULTS: The results show that one-third of the students experienced stage fright as a problem and that this was only moderately correlated with negative feelings of MPA. The experience of stage fright as a problem significantly predicted the frequency of use and the acceptance of medication as a coping strategy. Breathing exercises and self-control techniques were rated as effective as medication. Finally, students expressed a strong need to receive more support (65%) and more information (84%) concerning stage fright.CONCLUSION: Stage fright was experienced as a problem and perceived as having negative career consequences by a considerable percentage of the surveyed students. In addition to a desire for more help and support, the students expressed an openness and willingness to seriously discuss and address the topic of stage fright. This provides a necessary and promising basis for optimal career preparation and, hence, an opportunity to prevent occupational problems in professional musicians. [Authors]

Sensorimotor Plasticity after Music-Supported Therapy in Chronic Stroke Patients Revealed by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

BACKGROUND: Several recently developed therapies targeting motor disabilities in stroke sufferers have shown to be more effective than standard neurorehabilitation approaches. In this context, several basic studies demonstrated that music training produces rapid neuroplastic changes in motor-related brain areas. Music-supported therapy has been recently developed as a new motor rehabilitation intervention. METHODS AND RESULTS: In order to explore the plasticity effects of music-supported therapy, this therapeutic intervention was applied to twenty chronic stroke patients. Before and after the music-supported therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied for the assessment of excitability changes in the motor cortex and a 3D movement analyzer was used for the assessment of motor performance parameters such as velocity, acceleration and smoothness in a set of diadochokinetic movement tasks. Our results suggest that the music-supported therapy produces changes in cortical plasticity leading the improvement of the subjects' motor performance. CONCLUSION: Our findings represent the first evidence of the neurophysiological changes induced by this therapy in chronic stroke patients, and their link with the amelioration of motor performance. Further studies are needed to confirm our observations.

Using music as a signal for biofeedback

Studies on the potential benefits of conveying biofeedback stimulus using a musical signal have appeared in recent years with the intent of harnessing the strong effects that music listening may have on subjects. While results are encouraging, the fundamental question has yet to be addressed, of how combined music and biofeedback compares to the already established use of either of these elements separately. This experiment, involving young adults (N = 24), compared the effectiveness at modulating participants' states of physiological arousal of each of the following conditions: A) listening to pre-recorded music, B) sonification biofeedback of the heart rate, and C) an algorithmically modulated musical feedback signal conveying the subject's heart rate. Our hypothesis was that each of the conditions (A), (B) and (C) would differ from the other two in the extent to which it enables participants to increase and decrease their state of physiological arousal, with (C) being more effective than (B), and both more than (A). Several physiological measures and qualitative responses were recorded and analyzed. Results show that using musical biofeedback allowed participants to modulate their state of physiological arousal at least equally well as sonification biofeedback, and much better than just listening to music, as reflected in their heart rate measurements, controlling for respiration-rate. Our findings indicate that the known effects of music in modulating arousal can therefore be beneficially harnessed when designing a biofeedback protocol.

"Quería crear un nuevo cosmos" : Aleksandr Scriabin y su sonata para piano nº 9

A partir de l’estudi general de l’obra d’Aleksandr Scriabin i a partir de l’anàlisi particular de la Sonata núm. 9 així com de les distintes influències que va tenir, el treball pretén fer una valoració de com caldria interpretar la Sonata núm. 9. És per això que hom fa una introducció general a la vida de Scriabin i el situa en el seu context històric; estudia el seu interès per la filosofia i com aquesta va influir en la seva obra. Alhora hom analitza la faceta de Scriabin com a pianista i en revisa l’obra com a compositor. La segona part del treball, pròpiament analítica, entra en la qüestió de les sonates i la importància que adquireixen en tota la seva obra per tal de centrar-se, en el darrer punt, en la Sonata núm. 9 i l’enfocament interpretatiu que podria tenir. Aquí, a partir del que prèviament s’ha estudiat, hom proposa una possibilitat interpretativa. En relació a aquest punt es comparen interpretacions de diversos pianistes.

Pathétique Sonata : a study of musical aspects in subjection of aesthetic aims

This study makes an attempt to capture some of the aesthetic ideas prospering in the latter half of the eighteenth century and investigates in what way these are possibly being manifested in different musical aspects in Beethoven's early work, and most specifically in his eight sonata, often referred to as the Pathétique sonata. Beginning the first chapter with an introduction to aesthetic notions in Beethoven's age, the second chapter is mostly concerned with anecdotes regarding the Pathétique sonata. Further the third chapter exhibits possible influences between Cherubini, Beethoven and Wagner, and the last three chapters treat different musical and aesthetic aspects like Beethoven's relation to the C minor tonality, the German Sturm und Drang movement, and finally some parallels that can be found between literature and music.

Korean music

Digitoitu 31. 12. 2008

Arc : for piano and orchestra

Digitoitu 10. 6. 2008.

Competencias creativas en el aula de música = Creative competences in music classes

En el marco de las competencias profesionales del educador musical, la creatividad ocupa una posición que a menudo ha sido definida como sistémica. La labor del educador y/o formador en el aula de música requiere, de forma genérica, el despliegue de competencias que incorporen la creatividad. En este artículo se presentan los resultados de un trabajo realizado con dos muestras de alumnos, de tercer curso de magisterio y de un curso postgrado. Se ofrecen y se analizan los datos recogidos con la finalidad de desplegar un mapa que integre competencias creativas genéricas, específicas y disciplinares

El piano francès dels segles XX i XXI : una breu investigació per al disseny d'un repertori de concert

Aquest projecte pretén estudiar les aportacions de Messiaen, Dutilleux i Boulez en l’escriptura pianística, analitzant-ne la transcendència en el terreny interpretatiu actual. Per tal d’assolir aquest objectiu, es repassa quina ha sigut l’evolució de la tècnica pianística francesa, s’estudia el material i les circumstàncies que originen els respectius catàlegs per a piano i es realitza una comparativa del repertori estudiat en els principals conservatoris superiors de Barcelona, París, Sant Petersburg i Moscou. Aquest anàlisi permet determinar que el conservatori de París potencia les obres de nova creació, mentre que als de Barcelona, Sant Petersburg i Moscou encara s’opta per un estudi convergent al cànon. Com a conseqüència, els autors esmentats es consideren objecte d’estudi essencial a París, mentre que a Barcelona i les urbs russes encara no s’han establert en el pla d’estudis.

Bowing the violin : a case study for auditory-motor pattern modelling in the context of music performance

This project addresses methodological and technological challenges in the development of multi-modal data acquisition and analysis methods for the representation of instrumental playing technique in music performance through auditory-motor patterning models. The case study is violin playing: a multi-modal database of violin performances has been constructed by recording different musicians while playing short exercises on different violins. The exercise set and recording protocol have been designed to sample the space defined by dynamics (from piano to forte) and tone (from sul tasto to sul ponticello), for each bow stroke type being played on each of the four strings (three different pitches per string) at two different tempi. The data, containing audio, video, and motion capture streams, has been processed and segmented to facilitate upcoming analyses. From the acquired motion data, the positions of the instrument string ends and the bow hair ribbon ends are tracked and processed to obtain a number of bowing descriptors suited for a detailed description and analysis of the bow motion patterns taking place during performance. Likewise, a number of sound perceptual attributes are computed from the audio streams. Besides the methodology and the implementation of a number of data acquisition tools, this project introduces preliminary results from analyzing bowing technique on a multi-modal violin performance database that is unique in its class. A further contribution of this project is the data itself, which will be made available to the scientific community through the repovizz platform.

Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland, to the North Cape, in the years 1798 and 1799 : by Joseph Acerbi. In two volumes. Illustrated with seventeen elegant engravings. Vol. I[-II].

Vol. I: Portrait of Joseph Acerbi. Painted by P. Violet, engr. by P. W. Tomkins.