Archive for March, 2009
March 29th, 2009 21:03:33
The effect of improvisation-assisted desensitization, and music-assisted progressive muscle relaxation and imagery on reducing pianists’ music performance anxiety.
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The effect of improvisation-assisted desensitization, and music-assisted progressive muscle relaxation and imagery on reducing pianists’ music performance anxiety.
J Music Ther. 2008;45(2):165-91
Authors: Kim Y
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two music therapy approaches, improvisation-assisted desensitization, and music-assisted progressive muscle relaxation and imagery on ameliorating the symptoms of music performance anxiety (MPA) among student pianists. Thirty female college pianists (N = 30) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (a) improvised music-assisted desensitization group (n = 15), or (b) music-assisted progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and imagery group (n = 15). All participants received 6 weekly music therapy sessions according to their assigned group. Two lab performances were provided; one before and one after the 6 music therapy sessions, as the performance stimuli for MPA. All participants completed pretest and posttest measures that included four types of visual analogue scales (MPA, stress, tension, and comfort), the state portion of Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Music Performance Anxiety Questionnaire (MPAQ) developed by Lehrer, Goldman, and Strommen (1990). Participants’ finger temperatures were also measured. When results of the music-assisted PMR and imagery condition were compared from pretest to posttest, statistically significant differences occurred in 6 out of the 7 measures-MPA, tension, comfort, STAI, MPAQ, and finger temperature, indicating that the music-assisted PMR and imagery treatment was very successful in reducing MPA. For the improvisation-assisted desensitization condition, the statistically significant decreases in tension and STAI, with increases in finger temperature indicated that this approach was effective in managing MPA to some extent. When the difference scores for the two approaches were compared, there was no statistically significant difference between the two approaches for any of the seven measures. Therefore, no one treatment condition appeared more effective than the other. Although statistically significant differences were not found between the two groups, a visual analysis of mean difference scores revealed that the music-assisted PMR and imagery condition resulted in greater mean differences from pretest to posttest than the improvisation-assisted desensitization condition across all seven measures. This result may be due to the fact that all participants in the music-assisted PMR and imagery condition followed the procedure easily, while two of the 15 participants in the improvisation-assisted desensitization group had difficulty improvising.
PMID: 18563972 [PubMed - in process]
March 29th, 2009 19:03:10
Children with Specific Language Impairment Also Show Impairment of Music-syntactic Processing.
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Children with Specific Language Impairment Also Show Impairment of Music-syntactic Processing.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2008 Apr 16;
Authors: Jentschke S, Koelsch S, Sallat S, Friederici AD
Abstract Both language and music consist of sequences that are structured according to syntactic regularities. We used two specific event-related brain potential (ERP) components to investigate music-syntactic processing in children: the ERAN (early right anterior negativity) and the N5. The neural resources underlying these processes have been posited to overlap with those involved in the processing of linguistic syntax. Thus, we expected children with specific language impairment (SLI, which is characterized by deficient processing of linguistic syntax) to demonstrate difficulties with music-syntactic processing. Such difficulties were indeed observed in the neural correlates of music-syntactic processing: neither an ERAN nor an N5 was elicited in children with SLI, whereas both components were evoked in age-matched control children with typical language development. Moreover, the amplitudes of ERAN and N5 were correlated with subtests of a language development test. These data provide evidence for a strong interrelation between the language and the music processing system, thereby setting the ground for possible effects of musical training in SLI therapy.
PMID: 18416683 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
March 29th, 2009 5:03:46
How music fills our emotions and helps us keep time.
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How music fills our emotions and helps us keep time.
Behav Brain Sci. 2008 Oct;31(5):575-576
Authors: Agostino PV, Peryer G, Meck WH
Whether and how music is involved in evoking emotions is a matter of considerable debate. In the target article, Juslin & Västfjäll (J&V) argue that music induces a wide range of both basic and complex emotions that are shared with other stimuli. If such a link exists, it would provide a common basis for considering the interactions among music, emotion, timing, and time perception.
PMID: 18826700 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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