From Project creator Martha Summa-Chadwick

People depend on music every day to enrich lives, enhance special occasions, or encourage muscle movement.  While much is known about the aesthetic value of music, the knowledge of how the human brain interacts directly with music on a therapeutic level is not as familiar.  This unique learning series seeks to bridge that gap by providing fascinating video discussions regarding music therapy and music enrichment, as well as delivering a beautiful experiential music platform.  Leading experts in various musical, medical, therapeutic, non-profit, and administrative professional areas are featured giving in-depth conversations to provide the audience a broader view of the positive aesthetic and health benefits of music.  Following the discussion videos, the outstanding musicians from the Erie Philharmonic perform Beethoven’s string quartet op. 95 to unify the educational dialogue with an experiential musical presentation.

Music therapy discussions will reveal that neuroscience professionals acknowledge science-based research shows music as a direct pathway to activating motor, speech, and cognition processes in the brain.  Specific exercises in the form of biomedical music protocols can help redirect neural networks in persons with disabilities.  Individuals with medical challenges such as autism, cerebral palsy, stroke, Parkinson’s disease and many other conditions can greatly benefit when rhythm and music are directed to the brain.  The specific application of music and rhythm can redirect damaged neural networks to help improve a nonmusical behavior (such as gait, executive functioning, attention span, and speech) for better results in therapy and education.

Music enrichment discussions will inspire the audience to learn more about music.  For example, the third video in the series reveals that some of the greatest composers in history had forms of neural affliction.  The genius of these composers is evident as they rose above their disorder, or, in some cases, were actually aided by the associated attributes of their condition.  Ludwig Van Beethoven composed some of his greatest works, including the remarkable 9th Symphony, when he was completely deaf.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s eccentric behaviors lead us to believe that he would be considered today as having autism spectrum disorder.  Another renowned individual who most likely had Asperger’s, the great Albert Einstein, was quoted in 1933 as saying: “Mozart’s music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner beauty of the universe.”  And Robert Schumann, who was afflicted with what would probably be diagnosed today as a severe form of bipolar disorder, wrote much of his music with the help of his imaginary alternate personalities, Florestan (passionate and outgoing) and Eusebius (dreamy and inward).  The genius of these composers is evident in spite of, or possibly even assisted by their conditions.  

The impact of music to help with inclusion and unity in society is also discussed in this series.  Many individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD), such as autism, greatly benefit from music protocols.  As society becomes aware of the need for inclusion on so many levels, we realize that the key to long lasting and meaningful community inclusion for persons with IDD has been, and will continue to be, positive and harmonious behavior.  Without this behavior, “inclusion” reverts to “tolerance.”  This is not what we want for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  For example, attention control issues are common for persons with autism; the inability to focus on a task or a person can impede the development of relationship-building skills for living in community.  Improving attention focus utilizing music therapy protocols will increase inclusion appropriate behavior to be better suited for living, working, and playing in community.

In addition, information regarding the use of music for pain management is included.  Pain is always a huge deterrent to any rehabilitation situation; if pain can be remediated, therapeutic outcomes are much easier facilitated.  Early research (now published in Scientific Reports) now shows that the physiological response upon hearing a favorite piece of music is a release of both dopamine and a natural opioid into the brain.  More research is needed in this field, but music can certainly be utilized for less critical forms of pain management, resulting in fewer prescriptions for pain medicines.   This has tremendous implications for providing a non-pharmacological solution to help ease the opioid crisis that has taken so many lives.

Educational material regarding music and the brain wouldn’t be complete without a conversation about the professional musician’s brain, so the final unit of this series includes fascinating information about the physiological changes that occur in musicians’ brains.  The learning and practice needed to professionally sing or play an instrument takes years of dedication, and results in greater growth in areas of the brain related to language, auditory, and motor areas.  This conversation will also include a discussion of various afflictions experienced by professional musicians, such as muscular overuse that leads to a condition called focal dystonia.  The great pianist Leon Fleisher, who passed away in 2020, was challenged by this condition for decades when he lost the use of his right hand at the piano.  But he eventually retrained his brain and hands play in order to play with two hands again, revealing another example of how the brain creates new neural networks to bypass areas damaged by trauma or disease.

This exceptional video learning series brings together the various elements of music related to both therapeutic and aesthetic outcomes.  Ancient art forms and musical instruments tell us that music has existed for at least 100,000 years as an integral form of human communication.  The brain originally created the music, and with continued interaction additional brain plasticity occurs.  In this way, the brain continually evolves in the interaction with the music.   We are just beginning to understand the amazing extent of music's interactions in the brain and realizing that music could positively transform healthcare if utilized in mainstream medicine.