Dr. Jaak Panksepp/Bowling Green University
performed this independent study of EASe

…From the Lost and Found Newsletter of The Memorial Foundation
for Lost Children, 708 East Wooster Street,
Bowling Green, OH, 43402

 

                    Lost & Found  Volume 2, No. 4           
     Perspectives on Brain, Emotions, and Culture    
A quarterly newsletter from the Memorial Foundation for Lost Children

Music-based therapies are becoming a popular treatment modality for various psychiatric disorders, including autism-(see Book Review, this issue). They range from the Tomatis approach, to various newer forms of Auditory Integration Training (AIT). There are now CDs available for home AIT-type training (see info on EASE Disc below), and additional auditory treatment modalities are emerging (e.g., see the work of Dr, Steven Porges in the January 13 issue of U.S. News and World Report, p.54). A program, developed by Talal & Merznick will soon be available, to allow language delayed children to develop new language skills by slowing down key aspects of the language input (See Spring Issue of L & F). How the various auditory training procedures work, indeed, whether it can be demonstrated that they do in fact work under rigorous testing conditions, remains to be scientifically demonstrated for most procedures.

Probably the most scientific evidence is available for the utility of AIT, but the recent regulation of AIT technology by the FCA (presently classified as Class III or most regulated devices) has made this modality increasingly less accessible to the public. Indeed, even though some well-controlled data is available for AIT (Rimland & Edelson, 1995) there is presently no compelling evidence that either the filtering for modulation produced by AIT devices is critically essential for the benefits to be obtained from music therapy. Indeed, in on of the largest systematic studies, Bettison (1996) found that as much benefit was obtained from listening to unfiltered and unmodulated music as from the “treated” music.

Although every study is bound to have some flaws and alternative explanations (this is always the case with even the best scientific trials), it presently seems quite likely that certain music-based experiences have real benefits for the growth and development of various special children, autistic and otherwise. Thus, intensive research efforts need to be undertaken to properly evaluate the effects of music on the progressions of autistic disorders as well as normal development.

To model the brain effects of AIT, we recently initiated a series of animal studies to evaluate how music might effect brain functions. Here, we will summarize some of our recent work on neurochemical changes in the brains of newborn domestic chicks following exposure to an AIT-type program for ten days. The results have been rather spectacular, and for us they are a clarion-call for more research on this important topic.

We have done the following experiment three times now, and the results, with small variations, have been quite similar. We will only briefly summarize the most recent study completed a few months ago. Four separate groups of chicks were systematically exposed to four auditory conditions. Two groups received musical treatment, one with the CD of AIT-type modulated music (EASe Disc 1, produced by Bill Mueller, are available from – Vision Audio Inc., 611 Anchor Drive, Joppa, MD 21085; Tel. 410-679-1605). The other group received the same unmodulated music for ten successive days (half an hour in the morning and half hour in the afternoon, provided by open-field speakers at an average volume of about 86 db). One control group received no music, and the other was exposed to an audio tape of human voices (both male and female).

In our past work, such music has mildly facilitated the growth of the chicks and had some reliable effects on emotionality, however, the biggest effects have been on brain chemistries: Our largest results from the most recent series are depicted in the following figure, and it’s noteworthy that both the modulated and unmodulated music had quite similar effects:

Two days following termination of the treatment, brain norepinephrine (NE) and its principle metabolite (MHPG) were dramatically elevated. similar effects, albeit more modest, were seen for brain dopamine and its main metabolite HVA, with no clear effects on brain serotonin and epinephrine. The NE effects were unexpectedly large, and it is known that NE activity promotes attentional processes within the brain, It is also the type of brain change that is thought to mediate the antidepressant effects of tricyclic drugs such a desipramine.

How long these effect will last following termination of the treatment, and whether comparable effects occur in the human brain remain unknown, of course. Likewise, whether the effects are truly a result of music, as opposed to simply a result of fluctuating sounds, must be answered by future research. In any case, we have been pleasantly surprised that music could have such profound, and seemingly beneficial, effects on brain neurochemical dynamics. How such effects are generated in the brain must await additional research, but it is hard to imagine that changes of such magnitude could be achieved without some direct effect on the genetic machinery which regulates the synthesis of NE. We presently suspect that the attention-grabbing aspects of music may effectively activate certain genetic programs and exercise certain major brain neurotransmitter systems of the brain, such as the NE containing nerve cells of the locus coeruleus (i.e., the “blue area,” which is known to regulate all of brain activity). Since this part of the brain is especially responsive to transient, attention-grabbing stimuli, perhaps the natural fluctuation of music, as well as more intense AIT-induced modulation of music, are especially effective ways to exercise these neural circuits. In any event, we are impressed by these effects, and would encourage investigators to pursue these leads intensively.

It is widely accepted that music is the “language of the soul,” and the utility of music in the lives of autistic people, as well as those with other problems such as depression, needs to be more fully considered. However, it will be a long time before definitive data will be available for humans for the relevant brain changes cannot be easily measured. Thus, I suspect, wise parents will be giving their children systematic exposure to carefully selected music – namely utilizing pieces of music that have had some informal track-record in helping other children. CD’s such as those used in this study, may be quite effective choices, but it remains possible that any attention-grabbing music may work equally well.

The only thing we can be certain of at the present time is that music, provided in limited doses and at modest volumes, cannot hurt children. Since, the potential benefits may be substantial, it seems reasonable to make high quality music part of the daily diet of growing children, especially those who seem to be aloof from their social world. A variety of interesting pro-social activities could be combined with the musical experiences, l with both parent and child listening in on separate headphones (lead splitters for earphones are readily available from all audio outlet).

Finally, perhaps we will eventually have medications which simulate some of the effects of the music. We we will discuss in the Spring issue of L & F, we have found one such agent in our animal studies (a serotonin receptor blocking agent called cyproheptadine). Even though we might expect this agent to worsen autistic symptoms from the perspective that autistic children have low serotonin activity, for various reasons we suspect that this old medication may provide symptomatic relief for certain autistic symptoms, including commonly encountered appetite problems. But more on that in the Spring issue.

Bettison,S. (1996).The long-term effects of auditory training on children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26: 361-374.

Rimland, B., & Edelson, S.M. (1995). Auditory integration training in autism: A pilot study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25: 61-70