EuMuse music therapy program for expectant mothers, babies and premature infants
How to harmonize and improve babies’ well-being in order to support their cognitive, emotional, physical and social growth
EuMuse music modules reside in a complex web of dependencies and interactions. Every single music module represents a micro-learning moment, and foreshadows a much larger transformation
EuMuse music modules are designed to perform a particular task by incorporating new scientific discoveries with understanding of fundamental principles of music including – resonance (Lat. resonare = return to sound), entrainment (merging with, or synchronizing to the pulse of music), harmonic series (frequency relations between the tones), timbre (quality of a sound that distinguishes different types of sound production)
EuMuse research based applications highlight different fundamental elements of music - e.g. melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre, texture, dynamics, form - and thus bring out physiological responses (e.g. changes in pulse, blood pressure, respiration etc.) and enhance psychological responses, evoke imagery and associations that are associated with different emotions and easily verifiable in one's own experience
Claude Monet
Scientific References – Highlights
Listening to classical music effects on memory and learning: reading, literacy skills, ability to learn foreign languages with high efficiency, mathematical abilities, spatial-temporal reasoning, concentration, increased learning potential
with music inherently multi modal, music is the ideal brain training for children; changes in higher order cognitive functions can occur in days, weeks and years
very young children can perceive complex music rhythms from different cultures but lose this ability if not exposed to it before age one
when musical training begins before age seven, neural systems are created that last a lifetime
music has an immediate and positive effect on the oxygen saturation levels, heart and respiration rates of premature infants
fetuses are conditioned to music perception while still in the womb by the observed intense physiological music responses of the mothers, from 28 weeks, i.e. at the start of the third trimester of pregnancy
the heart rate of the fetus already changes when it hears a familiar song, from 35 weeks, there is even a change in its movement patterns
after training in childhood 1 to 5 years, adults increase brain response to complex sounds, they are more able to hear the fundamental (lowest frequency in a sound,) crucial for speech and music perception, these people also hear better in noisy places and are better listeners later in life
Isaac Israels
Meta-analysis showed that scientifically based, knowledgeable music exposure had a significant influence on well-being and quality of life in preterm infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). These interventions have been considered a non-pharmacological and non-invasive treatment. Prenatal music exposure leads to long-lasting changes in the brain after birth; according to published results (USA, EU) – medical imaging reveals that the neural networks of premature infants who have listened to the music, and in particular a network involved in many sensory and cognitive functions, are developing much better
Neonatal outcomes:
· Reduced number of days to discharge; Reduced pain response behaviors
· Increased weight gain; Improved Brazelton scores
· Enhanced parent/infant intimacy; Improved oxygen saturation
· Increased breastfeeding rates and formula intake
· Stabilized blood pressure; Stabilized heart rate
· Stabilized respirations; Increased maternal reports of calmed infants
Maternal outcomes:
· Reduces maternal stress and anxiety; Reduces maternal depression
· Enhances maternal/fetal relationship
Amedeo Modigliani
Use of EuMuse music modules in a clinical environment
Ease of access - consistency
Variety of issues to be addressed
Scalability
Ability to track clients/patients’ use
Can be tailored to a personal need