By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    stress disorder
    5 Ways To Manage Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
    October 27, 2021
    Medical device classification and development strategies
    Medical device classification and development strategies
    April 5, 2023
    varicose veins
    Varicose Veins Prevention: 3 Lifestyle Changes to Make Right Now
    May 1, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Healthcare Technology Showcase and Learning Center in Washington DC
    September 11, 2017
    State Farm Can Monitor Your Driving Habits
    May 16, 2011
    Extra Pounds at Midlife May Boost Dementia Risk Later
    June 27, 2011
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 20, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 20, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 20, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Are Melodic Intonation Therapy and Rhythmic Mechanisms Enough to Legitimize Music Therapy?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Medical Ethics > Are Melodic Intonation Therapy and Rhythmic Mechanisms Enough to Legitimize Music Therapy?
Medical EthicsMedical InnovationsWellness

Are Melodic Intonation Therapy and Rhythmic Mechanisms Enough to Legitimize Music Therapy?

andrewheikkila
andrewheikkila
Share
9 Min Read
SHARE

Music has its roots in mysticism, magic, and religion–but is there something scientific behind the power of rhythm and pitch? It was Arthur C. Clark, after all, who said “magic is just science that we don’t understand yet.” Music has been making headlines in the last couple of years for its use in medicine, particularly in the realm of the emerging field of music therapy.

Music has its roots in mysticism, magic, and religion–but is there something scientific behind the power of rhythm and pitch? It was Arthur C. Clark, after all, who said “magic is just science that we don’t understand yet.” Music has been making headlines in the last couple of years for its use in medicine, particularly in the realm of the emerging field of music therapy.

Music therapy as a practice gained attention after World War II, being officially recognized by the U.S. Department of War as a useful tool in the recuperation of military service members in Army hospitals. The first detailed mention of this comes from Technical Bulletin 187 in 1945, and music therapy has been used since to help manage traumatic injuries.

As time has gone on, both support and skepticism have cropped up in response to the use of music therapy as a treatment. Recent claims have been made across the spectrum, ranging from music therapy’s ability to improve both physiological and psychological functions that help chronically ill patients breathe better, slow down the parasympathetic nervous system to induce relaxation, and even ease pain and stress after surgery–but can music truly be considered a form of medicine?

More Read

What is “Arts and Health?”
Healthcare Costs Involved in Finding the Right Recovery Program
Popular Diets That Are Backed By Science
How To Choose Right Mattress For Your Lower Back Pain
Tips for Choosing the Right Massage Therapist

Communication Disorders and Melodic Intonation Therapy

One aspect of music therapy includes Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) to help those with communication disorders caused by damage to the left hemisphere of the brain, usually the aftermath of stroke or traumatic injury. The therapy uses the musical elements of melody and rhythm to improve expressive language by essentially teaching patients to “sing” what they want to say.

Gabrielle Giffords represents one of the more famous success stories pertaining to this topic. An assassination attempt left Giffords without the ability to speak at first, but after intense MIT sessions she was able to produce short words and phrases. She marked the three year anniversary of the survived assassination attempt by going skydiving, and in an interview with the TODAY Show said “oh, wonderful sky. Gorgeous mountain. Blue skies. I like a lot. A lot of fun. Peaceful, so peaceful.”

NPR has also run stories detailing the success of this type of therapy. The reason that MIT works so well is that the center that controls song and singing and the center that controls speech are in two different hemispheres of the brain, and the theory is that you can “rewire” your brain to utilize your song center for speech. While MIT has only been supported by one randomized control trial and, so far, one-off cases and anecdotal evidence, the results are promising.

A Study in Neurocounseling and Neuroplasticity

For any type of musical therapy, including MIT, to be considered effective and scientifically measurable, the practice must recognize that psychological and behavioral symptoms can be traced back to an underlying physiological and neurological basis. Neurocounseling does recognize this, and bases its treatments on the foundation of neuroplasticity, utilizing brain-based counseling interventions to produce new neurons and neural connections, chemically altering the way that the brain functions.

Effective music therapy seeks to produce measurable results that occur directly in response to the intended stimulus. US News ran a piece that showed Parkinson’s sufferers such as 60-year-old Rande Dave Gedaliah harnessing the power of music to overcome leg spasms, balance problems, and difficulty walking. In the same article, Oliver Sacks, neurologist and professor from Columbia University as well as author of the book Musicophilia, claims that our nervous system is unique among mammals in its automatic tendency to go into foot-tapping mode, and that music triggers networks of neurons to translate the cadence into organized movement.

“We see patients develop something like an auditory timing mechanism,” says Concetta Tomaino, cofounder of the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function in New York City. “Someone who is frozen can immediately release and begin walking. Or if they have balance problems, they can coordinate their steps to synchronize with the music,” improving their gait and stride.

If the external source, the music, is truly stimulating neuroplastic growth in the brain by connecting walking or speech patterns, with the internal “timing” function, then music therapy can revel in its legitimacy as a form of neurocounseling.

Skepticism in the Field

An interesting article popped up in the Atlantic in 2014 titled “The Dangers of Overestimating Music Therapy” by Steve Swayne. In it, the author critiques a popular YouTube video uploaded in late 2011, in which a nursing home patient with named Henry responds to music over headphones.

In the video, you see Henry before he listens to his music. He’s catatonic, unresponsive, and mute. After he puts on his headphones, however, the change is remarkable. His eyes widen, he begins to vocalize and sort of sing, and his movements are characteristic of dancing. To the casual observer, this looks like a clear victory and success. Swayne, on the other hand, sees a different possibility:

“Dementia patients’ inability to consent and their confused responses lead to yet one more reason to tread carefully in this area: the potential for injury,” says Swayne, “emotional injury, not physical injury…. I can easily imagine that, should I outlive my husband, songs that bring me joy today might one day bring me pain, because those songs will make me think of him. The same likely holds true for patients who cannot coherently tell caregivers about their musical triggers.”

Verification via MT-BC

While Swayne isn’t saying that music therapy is “woo woo”, he is saying that we need to be careful at how quickly we adopt practices as science. There is no one-size-fits all approach here–and let’s not forget that there are those claiming to be music therapists who are offering solutions such as “self improvement audio cassettes covering AIDS, cancer, weight loss, stress, birth, children, intimacy, scleroderma, and new age music.” People claiming to be able to cure these ailments with music therapy are selling a product that has no basis in medical science–but that doesn’t stop them from touting it as such.

Still, just because there are a few quacks out there doesn’t mean that you should dismiss music as medicine. Authority in the field is growing as more practitioners receive Music Therapy Board Certification (MT-BC). In the same way that we immediately recognize physician authority via invested training–we know that it takes a really long time and costs a lot to become a doctor–we are also beginning to recognize MT-BCs as authoritative. Compound this with the wealth of evidence amounting in support of music medicine, and it’s hard to ignore this burgeoning field.

While it may not be fully recognize yet, the point is that music is powerful. Even if it can’t be explained now, it’s worth exploring.


Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Carestream Logo
Hospital AdministrationPolicy & LawRadiologySpecialtiesTechnologyWellness

Diagnostic Reading #33: Five Must-Read Articles from the Past Week

June 30, 2015

2011 LTC Costs Met Life

January 21, 2012
slipping on floor
Home HealthSpecialties

Essential Flooring Tips to Minimize Painful Accidents

March 29, 2021

A Drug That Can Cure The Common Cold?

August 18, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?