Music therapy a tonic for neurology patients

Music matters, especially for patients with neurological diseases.

In an inpatient ward at the China Rehabilitation Research Center, music therapist Zhang Xiaoying was playing and singing the Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower to a 53-year-old patient with impaired language function caused by a stroke.

After a while, the patient managed to hum a tune to the rhythm of the song, a significant step in their rehabilitation.

"That's an amazing reaction," Zhang said.

Patients with impaired brain function, such as aphasia, have conditioned language reflexes when hearing familiar music. Music can activate the movements of the brain, Zhang said. Problems in the language center of the left brain make patients lose their speaking ability, but they still can sing if the functions of the right brain are in good condition.

"It's like opening a window for the patients to restore their language function," Zhang said.

Neuroimaging results showed that changes in brain functions were recorded among some patients after music therapy, said Wu Xiaoli, a doctor at the center. Some individuals with aphasia caused by stroke could sing broken lyrics and say simple words after several sessions of music therapy.

In the past 10 years, an increasing number of studies have assessed the potential rehabilitative effects of music-based interventions, such as listening to music, singing or playing an instrument, on several neurological diseases. Music-based interventions can affect divergent functions such as motor performance, speech or cognition.

The China Rehabilitation Research Center established its neurological music therapy center in 2016, with four full-time music therapists. They select suitable songs for the patients according to their age, hometown, profession, level of education and personality.

Zhang has helped more than 1,700 patients with impaired brain functions, ranging from 1 to 87 years of age. Most of them suffered from diseases of the central nervous system, such as stroke or brain trauma, or injuries of the spine.

About 70 percent of the patients witnessed an improvement in their conditions after being treated with music therapy for one to three months, Zhang said.

Outpatients and inpatients can seek music therapy advice in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuxi, Shenzhen and Qinhuangdao.

In 2011, the Chinese Professional Music Therapist Association was established. Ten years on, there are about 200 music therapists nationwide holding certifications from the association.

There are 16 Chinese universities, including the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music and the Minzu University of China, offering four-to five-year music therapy majors.

Xinhua