Amelioration of psychiatric symptoms through exposure to music individually adapted to brain rhythm disorders – a randomised clinical trial on the basis of fundamental research

Abstract

Introduction. This pilot study examined, whether long-term exposure of psychiatric patients to music that was individually adapted to brain rhythm disorders associated with psychoticism could act to ameliorate psychiatric symptoms.

Methods. A total of 50 patients with various psychiatric diagnoses were randomised in a 1:1 ratio to listen to CDs containing either music adapted to brain rhythm anomalies associated with psychoticism – measured via a specific spectral analysis – or standard classical music. Participants were instructed to listen to the CDs over the next 18 months. Psychiatric symptoms in both groups were assessed at baseline and at 4, 8 and 18 months, using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI).

Results. At 18 months, patients in the experimental group showed significantly decreased BSI scores compared to control patients. Intriguingly, this effect was not only seen for symptoms of psychoticism and paranoia but also for anxiety, phobic anxiety and somatisation.

Conclusions. Exposure to the adapted music was effective in ameliorating psychotic, anxiety and phobic anxiety symptoms. Based on the theories of neuroplasticity and brain rhythms, it can be hypothesised that this intervention may be enhancing brain–rhythm synchronisation and plasticity in prefrontal–hippocampal circuits that are implicated in both psychosis/paranoia and anxiety/phobic anxiety.

Keywords:

• adapted music
• psychosis
• anxiety
• brain rhythms
• neuroplasticity

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Jörg Lesting for invaluable discussions on current rhythm literature and Karin Huber and Christl Brucher of the Institute of Communication and Brain Research Stuttgart for excellent technical assistance. Thanks are also due to Anne Stilman for language editing.

Supplementary material

Supplemental Material is available via the “Supplementary” tab on the article's online page (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13546805.2013.879054).