Research Question, Search Strategy & Preliminary Outline
It is possible to qualitatively resemble the research question of the degree of the expediency of musical therapy for cognitive diseases by analyzing and evaluating the influence of this method on the functioning of the sense organs, mental activity, changes in behavior. A qualitative approach in the study of music therapy is also to determine the properties of this method, its main features, and characteristics. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider the characteristics of music therapy, taking into account the opinions of various scientists and the results of the research. This paper examines music therapy in terms of its effectiveness, relevance, and ease of use as one of the additional methods for treating cognitive diseases.
In this paper, it is advisable to use a descriptive design to build a document. This type of research design will help to answer questions about the effectiveness of music therapy, its connection with other methods of treating cognitive diseases. Descriptive studies will help to obtain information about the current state of music therapy in medicine and to prove that its properties make this method one of the most effective, appropriate and easily applied methods for treating cognitive diseases. Finally, the paper requires recommendations, which means the appropriateness of using a descriptive study that can yield valuable data leading to important practical recommendations.
Literature Review
Gold, C., Saarikallio, S., Crooke, A., McFerran, K. (2017). Group Music Therapy as a Preventive Intervention for Young People at Risk: Cluster-Randomized Trial. Journal of Music Therapy.
The issue of clinical practice in this study is to assess the influence of music on the mental state of adolescents. The study aims to analyze music therapy for the treatment of mental disorders (primarily depression), as well as an analysis of its preventive qualities that can be used for preventive purposes. The document focuses primarily on group music therapy, assessing the impact of the effectiveness of this method on young people. Considering the quality of the conducted research, it uses an experimental approach to the study of the issue. At the same time, the results of the study lead to further research in order to prove the positive impact of music therapy on adolescents, as well as on the treatment of cognitive diseases. The first strength of this study is its detailed description of the problem of music therapy. In addition, researchers use a large number of external sources to prove their point of view. The weaknesses of the document include a superficial description of the concept of music therapy and the provision of surface research results.
Bruggen-Rufi, M., Vink, A., Wolterbeek, R., Achterberg, W., & Roos, R. (2017). The Effect of Music Therapy in Patients with Huntington’s Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Journal of Huntington’s Disease 6(1), 63-72.
The problem of the clinical practice of this study is to determine the effectiveness of music therapy. At the same time, researchers use recreational therapy as a comparative factor to assess the effect of MT to improve the quality of life of patients who suffer from Huntington’s disease as one of the cognitive disorders. The researchers tried to find a relationship between the use of music therapy and the improvement of communication links between patients and staff. The quality of the research document is to use the experimental method, which increases the probability of correctness of the results and increases the relevance and value of the document. This is a multi-vector, randomized, and controlled study. The strength of this study is its detailing; the authors provided an in-depth analysis of the impact of music therapy on Huffington’s disease. At the same time, they often used external sources and the results of other studies in order to confirm their point of view. The weaknesses of the study include the use of complex medical terminology at the university level, which can often prove to be unbearable for college students. Also, the results of the study did not answer a few questions that were raised at the beginning.
Pavlov, A., Kameg, K., Cline, T., Chiapetta, L., Stark, S., Mitchell, A. (2017). Music Therapy as a Nonpharmacological Intervention for Anxiety in Patients with a Thought Disorder. Journal of Issues Mental Health Nursing, 38(3), 285-288.
The problem of the clinical practice of this study is to evaluate the effect of music therapy on the treatment of cognitive disorders, primarily anxiety. The quality of the study lies in the experimental method, during which the participants in the study were examined before and after the music therapy. Ultimately, the researchers came to the conclusion that music therapy can be useful only in certain cases and with a coincidence of a large number of factors. First of all, this study shows that music therapy can play a role only as a complementary method of treating anxiety, but not the primary one. Also, music therapy cannot provide the proper effect in the long term; its short-term action is much more effective. Nevertheless, MT gives positive results and prospects in the long term as well. The strength of the study is using simple terminology that is available to most students. In addition, the study provides unique information that has virtually no analogs. This quality makes this document very valuable. However, the document provides a superficial description of the effect of music therapy on patients. The authors of the study did not go into the analysis of the problem, providing only the most important information.
Kong, H., & Karahalios, K. (2017). Parental Perceptions, Experiences, and Desires of Music Therapy. AMIA Annual Symptoms Procedures, 1870-1879
The problem of clinical practice of this study is to study the parental perception of music therapy using the Internet survey method. Researchers focused on the study of the influence of music therapy on children, including those who suffer from or are prone to cognitive disorders. Ultimately, the authors concluded that music therapy is one of the most popular methods of treatment and prevention of cognitive disorders among children. Most parents observe significant changes in the behavior of their children after using music therapy. At the same time, the study states that music therapy also positively affects the behavioral, linguistic and social functions of children. In addition, the quantitative characteristics of the study also explain the description of the impact of technological solutions to mitigate the problem of the definition of the distance and the cost of the method. Strengths of the study include a deep description and analysis of the effect of music therapy on children with a predisposition to cognitive disorders. In this case, the authors used a simple terminology. Weaknesses include a small distance from the topic; the authors repeatedly provided information that does not concern the issue. Also, some questions remained unanswered.
Hedge, S. (2014). Music-based cognitive remediation therapy for patients with traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Neurology, 5(34).
This article examines the influence of musical therapy on cognitive disorders that have arisen in consequence of traumatic brain injury, brain trauma. Researchers emphasize that music therapy can reduce the patient’s vulnerability, anxiety, and improve social skills and communication skills. According to the study, music therapy positively influences the cognitive perception of patients, their neurological condition and overall health. At the same time, music therapy primarily has a short-term effect, but its long-term effects also take place. The quantitative value of the paper is to provide the results of unique research and opinion points, the views of authoritative health professionals. In general, such a document is of great value for writing an article and confirming the thesis thanks to a large number of relevant arguments. The strength of the document lies in the deep analysis and description of the problem. Also, it is extensive and covers several important issues at once. However, the authors used complex terminology and practically did not adapt the text to a wide audience.
Eun Ye, M., et al (2015). The Effects of Occupational Therapy and Music Therapy on Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Study. Journal Korean Geriatric Society, 19(2), 71-79.
The problem of the clinical practice of this study is to assess the impact of music therapy exclusively on patients with impaired cognitive perception. The authors concluded that music therapy could reduce a patient’s predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease, reduce the need for pharmacological and psychiatric treatment. However, the quantitative value of the document lies in the fact that music therapy can only be used as a complementary method of treatment or prevention, but not as the primary one. Strengths of the document are the construction of the research question, which is exactly suitable for writing a research paper; the thesis of both works are almost identical. In addition, the strength of the document lies in its simplicity and conciseness. Weaknesses include the use of Korean patients as subjects for analysis; this can significantly affect the results of the study. In addition, the second weakness is the use of complex terminology.
Li, H., Hsiu-Hung, W. & Fan-Hao, C. (2015). The Effect of Music Therapy on Cognitive Functioning Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Medicine, 16(1), 71-77.
The problem of clinical research is to analyze the influence of music therapy on the cognitive functioning of older people. The quality of the study is explained by the experiment and interview, with the help of which the authors were able to draw conclusions about the music therapy and its advisability in the treatment of cognitive disorders among the elderly. The strengths of the exercise are the use of simple terminology, as well as a short but concise structure. Weaknesses of the document include insufficient argumentation of some points, which may raise doubts about the credibility of the study and its reliability. Also, the authors of this study contradict themselves in some arguments.
Bower, J. (2013). Music therapy for early cognitive rehabilitation post-childhood TBI: An intrinsically mixed methods case study. Developmental Neurorehabilitation Journal, 17(5).
The problem of clinical practice is the study of behavioral and cognitive changes among patients during a session of music therapy. Researchers paid attention primarily to short-term effects of music therapy. At the same time, they aimed to investigate the influence of music therapy on the treatment of anxiety, the prevention of some cognitive disorders and the minimization of the predisposition of young people to mental disorders. The strengths of the exercise are the use of simple terminology, as well as a laconic structure. At the same time, the study was focused only on short-term analysis of the consequences. To the same, the results of the study were ambiguous and it is difficult to analyze and interpret them.
Summary of Findings
In modern healthcare, the identification of psychogenic factors that affect cognitive disease is an indication for the appointment of psychotherapeutic procedures. At the same time, the search for methods that combine influence on the mental, cognitive and physical level of human existence is open. Such methods allow individual psychosomatic harmonization of the personality and stabilization of the cognitive state from the point of view of the whole organism. Moreover, the problem of practical implementation of such methods is relevant for several years, especially in the case of the functioning of institutions in the field of health. The above methods have the purpose of playing a role as a preventive rehabilitation in the stages of the absence of any pathological changes. At the same time, they can become an additional kind of therapy in the treatment of certain cognitive diseases. Music therapy is one such method that aims at improving practice in the case of mental diseases. This is the bodily and mental effect of sound therapy, which emphasizes the integrity of this method. Musical therapy can be an effective, cost-effective and easy-to-introduce additional method of treating cognitive diseases.
In most cases, the sound is considered as a dynamic factor in the regulation of angiogenesis. In this case, the frequency, timbre, loudness of musical tones are indicated as biologically active parameters of the effect, and music, written in accordance with the laws of harmony, serves as a purposefully controlled call to maintain anti-stress activation reactions in the body. Among the variety of physiological and cognitive responses, the human body responds to cardiovascular, respiratory, hormonal, mental, as well as acceleration of neurotransmission, modulation of hormonal activity (Hedge, 2014). Researchers note that music affects the senses much earlier and stronger than any other pathogen. The information obtained through the auditory receptors is most significant. It mobilizes neurons and leads to the emergence of clear sensations, and at the same time, reactions to sensations in the form of emotions and feelings (Bower, 2013). In studies devoted to the study of the effect of various stimuli on the sensory organs, it was found that sound stimuli exert the strongest influence on emotions in the longest period of adaptation. Kong, & Karahalios (2017) showed that hearing is just one aspect of a much larger, dynamic process that consists not only in the perception of sounds, spatial coordination but also in cognitive modulation.
Summarizing the ideas about the mechanisms of the influence of music on the body through the organs of hearing, Gold, Saarikallio, Crooke, & McFerran (2017) noted that music is perceived and undergoes the most complicated processing in the auditory analyzer. In particular, in the cortical structures of the temporal lobes of the brain, which directly affect the cognitive state of a person. In this case, personal and musical dynamic factors affect the nature of perception and the type of reactions that arise. Personality factors include vital, motor, speech experience, musicality, psychophysical and cognitive state and the adequacy of the listener; the musical and dynamic factors – tempo, rhythm, tonality, volume and timbre characteristics of the performed musical work. With an adequate perception of the listener, energetic, moderately loud music tones; and melodic, quiet, moderately slow, major and minor music has a sedative effect. In addition, the arising reactions of auditory adaptation give rise to certain aesthetic experiences that actively influence the psychoemotional state of a patient. The positive emotional excitement when sounding pleasant melodies intensifies attention and stimulates intellectual activity (Li, Hsiu-Hung, & Fan-Hao, 2015).
In addition, cognitive effects from the effects of music are due to direct acoustic resonance responses from cells, organs, and systems. Therefore, in accordance with the reflex-resonant theory, the medical-improving effects of MT are due to the following components: auditory, tactile, activating analgesic activity through baroceptors, resonant, realized through cells, tissues and organs, whose resonance frequencies coincide with the frequency of acoustic signals (Pavlov, Kameg, Cline, Chiapetta, Stark, Mitchell, 2017). Researchers consider high water content in human tissues as a factor mediating sound transmission, and the overall effect of MT is compared with a deep massage at the atomic-molecular level (Li, Hsiu-Hung & Fan-Hao, 2015). At the present time, based on the theory of wave processes, the hypothesis of the vibrational basis of the human body has been put forward, while its algorithm is similar to the vibration algorithm that forms a musical sound. In general, acoustic stimuli corresponding to the laws of harmony determine the concerted sounding of the organism (Bruggen-Rufi, Vink, Wolterbeek, Achterberg, & Roos, 2017).
From modern positions, the functions of the music therapist are to conduct MT sessions based on the previously studied data of the clinical diagnosis, focusing on the patient’s physical, emotional, social and psychological needs. Thus, treatment through music is a systemic process of interactive cooperation. Patients are involved in a variety of forms of work, including listening to healing instrumental music, moving to music, improvisation and healing singing. In general, MT is the systematic use of music in order to achieve a non-musical result, when music is used to correct physical, psychological, cognitive and social functions.
Currently, representatives of various scientific schools have confirmed the effectiveness of MT. Numerous studies aimed at studying the potential of MT have revealed the harmonizing role of music therapy as an anti-stress activation therapy for adaptation disorders that are psychosomatic in nature and are based on emotional stress. Researchers in the field of MT note a wide range of effectiveness of its application: the development of communication skills and the rehabilitation of patients with organic lesions of the nervous system (Bower, 2013), the formation of a capacity for relaxation. In addition, there is the development of creative abilities, creative thinking (Eun Ye, M., et al, 2015), aesthetic needs, correction and restoration of the cognitive sphere, and modulation of the activity of functional systems.
Proposed Solutions Based on Evidence
Music therapy is gradually acquiring a special format. Intensive development of technology allows talking about the prospects of this direction within the framework of solutions to the main issues of restorative medicine. Proposed solutions based on evidence include the expansion and consolidation of the information space. At the same time, efforts should be directed to the achievement of proper scientific and practical compliance between representatives of art and science. Such an effective dialogue is seen as the key to success in establishing and recognizing Music therapy as cyanogenetic technology on a global scale, which will provide new opportunities for conscious use of sound as the basis for the method of treatment of cognitive disorders.
Dissemination Plan
The conducted research, the analysis of a large number of authoritative and reliable sources gives grounds to assert that music therapy can be an effective complementary method of treating cognitive diseases. At the same time, this method is not quite popular in modern medicine because of its false doubt. The dissemination plan involves raising the awareness of health professionals around the world about the advisability of using music therapy as an additional method of treating cognitive diseases. This is possible to do with the help of international organizations related to health. First of all, it is WHO, as well as organizations that work to resolve problems in the field of mental disorders. It should be remembered that music therapy is ineffective in some cases. Studies have shown that it is ineffective in treating cognitive disorders among the elderly in the short term. In addition, the music therapist must take into account a large number of factors in order to conduct treatment properly. On the one hand, such a distribution plan is complex; however, music therapy is an easily applied and effective method of treating cognitive disorders.
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