Subject: Sound Therapy: Fact vs. Hear say From: Punita Singh <pgsingh(at)HOTMAIL.COM> Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 14:14:12 PDTDear List Are there any decent scientific studies validating the use of sound / music for therapeutic purposes? My reading on this field (from over a dozen years ago) yielded a fuzzy picture with no clear methodology or norms. Lots of "trial-and-error" type situations abounded, where the focus was more on presenting music as an auditory stimulus to calm / soothe/ excite/ whatever. That type of scenario seems to me to be too subjective and culture-bound to be really effective as a therapeutic tool that can be taught and practised. I was consulted about this topic recently and went to the Net for help on the latest stuff. Seems like music therapy today is a full-fledged field with "licensed practitioners" and the focus has also shifted from pure listening to include music-making and active participation in sound-producing activities as a form of therapy. This makes more sense to me. However, many of the sites the search engines threw up had some rather "hair-raising", wild and whacky stuff. To wit: " Hearing Loss and Sound Therapy How Does Sound Therapy Help? Stimulating the cilia: On the Sound Therapy tapes the low frequency (low tone) sounds are progressively removed and the high frequencies are augumented. Although quiet, the high frequency sounds are raised in pitch until the only sounds heard are between 8,000 Hz and 16,000 Hz. These high frequency sounds stimulate the cilia (the fine, hair - like sensory cells in the inner ear). Where the cilia have been flattened by too much noise the high frequency sound stimulates them to return to their upright position. This restores the person's hearing in high frequencies. The electronic ear used in the recording of Sound Therapy challenges the ear with constantly alternating sounds of high and low tone. At the same time, low frequency sounds are progressively removed from the music so the ear is introduced to higher and higher frequencies. The result is a complete rehabilitation of the ear, improving the tone and responsiveness of the middle ear muscles. Once the ear is able to recognize and admit high frequency sounds to the inner ear, this creates the opportunity for the sensory cells in the inner ear to be stimulated and restored to their upright, receptive position. (from http://www.intouchmag.com/sound ) " Have you heard anything Cilia ? Makes your hair stand on end !! Anyway, --- I would really appreciate it if anybody on the list has any personal experiences or insights to share on the topic of sound / music therapy. --- Pun ita ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Email to AUDITORY should now be sent to AUDITORY(at)lists.mcgill.ca LISTSERV commands should be sent to listserv(at)lists.mcgill.ca Information is available on the WEB at http://www.mcgill.ca/cc/listserv