Day 13 - Brain Plasiticity and Brain Research

Right now, my brain is firing on "all neurons". I've just watched an amazing video about the growth and development of the area of brain research called Brain Plasiticity. My head is full of questions and ideas so forgive me if this post is a bit "scatterbrained" LoL!

For unknown reasons, many of the recent publications and internet based media that has caught my attention has dealt with the subject of brain plasiticity, or the ability of the brain to change and adapt to new and/or odd situations, resulting from brain damage or injury. A couple of the resources that I have come across include (in no particular order):

1. Levitin, D. J. (2007). This is your brain on music: Science of a human obsession. London, England: Plume. ISBN: 978-0-452-28852-2. 322 pgs.

There is now an accompanying 6 part video series, entitled, "The Musical Brain" staring Dr. Levitin with guests such as Sting, and Yo-Yo-Ma.

2. Lopez, S. (2008). The soloist. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN: 978-0-425-22600-I

This book has become a major motion picture available in mainstream theatres. While not necessarily about "brain plasiticity" it does reflect the power of music to transform lives.

3. Music and the brain: Are humans wired for music. [Video]. Available from: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/video/music-and-the-brain/are-humans-wired-for-music/54/

4. The songs they can't forget. [Blog posting]. Available from: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/the-songs-they-cant-forget/

5. The brain that changes itself. ["Nature of Things" Video documentary]. Available from: http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/docplayer2.html?playlistId=9cc84af0ef424e74902e7b19193efde5ebcac807&id=937819740.

So why discuss this topic on a blog? Music therapists have long contended that music has the ability to modify and change "neural pathways" in the brain (Davis, Gfeller & Thaut, 2008; Hummelsheim, 1999; Levitin, D. J., 2007). I have personally and professionally seen the effects of a long term relationship with a person with Alzheimer's type dementia who "can't remember what they had for lunch" but recognize that "You've been gone for a long time" or "You're going to play ME some music!". I've also seen the impact that music can make on the partial recovery of function in individuals following brain injury and stroke.

For those music therapists who wish to delve deeper, or who may wish to undertake training in "neurological music therapy (Thaut), I encourage you to look at the following websites (again in no particular order):

1. The centre for biomedical research in music (CBRM) located at: http://www.colostate.edu/dept/cbrm/

2. McMaster institute for music and the mind (MIMM) located at: http://mimm.mcmaster.ca/

3. Getting in tune [pdf file) located at: http://www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/music.pdf?docID=961

4. Exploring the musical mind located at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=exploring-the-musical-bra.

Finally, I would encourage you to Tweet or contact Nikki Belshe (@nikkibelshe) who has trained and become a Neurological Music Therapist.

Q: What information has tweaked your interest lately and why?

Day 11 - On the Rebound

It is said that "there are two sides to every story". The same can be said of vacations!

As readers of this blog know, I have recently taken a 2 week train vacation. It was, absolutely, one of the best vacations that I have ever taken. I visited our cottage, a few "historic" sites from my childhood and renewed acquaintances with friends that I haven't seen for a few years. Returning home to Edmonton, my children were eager to visit me, and I soon felt like I needed another vacation after my vacation! Among my "to do" items yet to be completed, a big belated thank-you to my guest bloggers. I really enjoyed your posts and I look forward to working together in the future. A special note about the third guest author (Nikki Belshe, MT-BC, NMT). Her participation was not confirmed prior to my departure on my vacation and consequently I did not have an opportunity to post a short introduction - so here it is.

Nikki Belshe MT-BC, NMT is a music therapist who is presently living in Colorado. She has training as a "Neurological Music Therapist", a specialty within training to become a music therapist. I met her through Twitter, where she goes by the username @nikkibelsheMTBC.

To recap - the downside of a vacation is the added workload when you return (indeed, the list of things to do seems to increase exponentially with the number of weeks that you are away). The upside of a vacation, particularly if it was a good vacation, is the renewed energy that you can bring to that pile of "things to do". I came back charged and ready to go. It was great to see my clients again, see the glimpses of a past relationship in the words and demeanour of many of the clients with Alzheimer's type dementia (note the use of person-first terminolgy :-) ), meet new clients and grieve those who had passed away during my vacation period.

I'm going to finish this post now. Later this week, I will be discussing another personal project - the Music Therapy Educational Collaborative Project (MTCEP) that I am currently finalizing. It's great to be back and nice to be blogging again! Thanks for visiting and post your comments to anything that you see.