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ABSTRACT
Introduction: Music and imagery are often used as stimuli in emotionally focused therapy to induce personal emotions, especially unpleasant emotions, which are related to personal episodic memories. In this study, we designed an fMRI study to demonstrate the enhancement effect of unpleasant emotions by modified guided imagery and music (GIM), which is a music psychotherapy approach utilizing music and imagery.
Methods: Music excerpts and verbal instructions (VI) were presented to 23 right-handed healthy participants, and regions of interest (ROI) analysis for the difference between GIM as a combined stimulus (GIM-CS) and music as a single stimulus (M-SS) was conducted. Additionally, subjective responses about the experience of GIM-CS, M-SS, and VI were obtained and compared with the results of the ROI analysis.
Results: The ROI analysis revealed statistically significant differences between GIM-CS and M-SS in the amygdala, insular, parahippocampal gyrus, and putamen. More specifically, GIM-CS increased the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activity in these regions. Subjective responses clearly indicated that unpleasant emotions were remarkably increased by GIM-CS than by M-SS and that VI assisted the participants to focus on personal emotions.
Discussion: This study showed the neural networks of unpleasant emotional processing, which is initiated by modified GIM. Even though the fMRI experiments were conducted with a modified form of GIM, the study results can be potentially used to provide the neuroscientific rationale for effective use of GIM in clinical practice.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea under Grant NRF-2017M3C7A1047228.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sang Eun Lee
Sang Eun Lee, Ph.D., FAMI, is an assistant professor at the Department of Music Therapy, Graduate School of Social Education, Myongji University, South Korea. She is also the president of the Korean Association for Music and Imagery, South Korea.
Dongchan Kim
Dongchan Kim, Ph.D., is a research professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Sciences, Gachon university, South Korea.
Yeji Han
Yeji Han, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Sciences, Gachon university, South Korea. She is also with the Neuroscience Research Institute, South Korea.