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A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 21 december 2017

Striking a chord, NIH taps the brain to find how music heals

By LAURAN NEERGAARD them. Finally, she imagined nect — for example, when
AP Medical Writer singing them. a musician practices —
WASHINGTON (AP) — Like “We’re trying to under- strengthen bonds into
a friendly Pied Piper, the stand the brain not just so circuitry that forms an ef-
violinist keeps up a toe- we can address mental ficient network for, in Flem-
tapping beat as danc- disorders or diseases or in- ing’s case, singing.
ers weave through busy juries, but also so we can But that’s a healthy brain.
hospital hallways and into understand what happens In North Carolina, a neu-
the chemotherapy unit, when a brain’s working roscientist and a dance
patients looking up in sur- right and what happens professor are starting an
prised delight. Upstairs, when it’s performing at a improvisational dance
a cellist plays an Irish folk really high level,” said NIH class for Alzheimer’s to tell if
tune for a patient in inten- researcher David Jangraw, music and movement en-
sive care. who shared the MRI data hance a diseased brain’s
Music increasingly is be- with The Associated Press. neural networks.
coming a part of patient Well before memory loss
care — although it’s still To Jangraw’s surprise, sev- becomes severe, Alzheim-
pretty unusual to see rov- eral brain regions were er’s patients can experi-
ing performers captivating Violinist Anthony Hyatt leads dancers through MedStar more active when Flem- ence apathy, depression
entire wards, like at Med- Georgetown University Hospital in Washington on Oct. 11, 2017. ing imagined singing than and gait and balance
Star Georgetown University Musicians and dancers are part of the Georgetown Lombardi when she actually sang, problems as the brain’s syn-
Hospital one fall morning. Comprehensive Cancer Center’s arts and humanities program. including the brain’s emo- aptic connections begin
Associated Press
“It takes them away for just tion center and areas in- to falter. The NIH-funded
a few minutes to some oth- To turn that ability into But what’s missing is rigor- volved with motion and study at Wake Forest Uni-
er place where they don’t a successful therapy, “it ous science to better un- vision. versity will randomly assign
have to think about what’s would be a really good derstand how either listen- One theory: it took more such patients to the impro-
going on,” said cellist Mar- thing to know which parts ing to or creating music mental effort to keep track visation class — to dance
tha Vance after playing for of the brain are still intact might improve health in a of where she was in the playfully without having to
a patient isolated to avoid to be called into action. range of other ways — re- song, and to maintain its remember choreography
spreading infection. To know the circuits well search into how the brain emotion, without auditory — or to other interventions.
The challenge: Harness- enough to know the back- processes music that NIH is feedback. The test: If quality-of-life
ing music to do more than up plan,” Collins added. beginning to fund. Fleming put it more simply: symptoms improve, will
comfort the sick. Scientists aren’t starting “The water is wide, I can- “I’m skilled at singing so I MRI scans show correlat-
Now, moving beyond pro- from scratch. Learning to not cross over,” well-known didn’t have to think about ing strengthening of neural
grams like Georgetown’s, play an instrument, for ex- soprano Renee Fleming it quite so much,” she told networks that govern gait
the National Institutes of ample, sharpens how the belted out, not from a con- a spring workshop at the or social engagement?
Health is bringing together brain processes sound and cert stage but from inside John F. Kennedy Center for With senior centers increas-
musicians, music therapists can improve children’s an MRI machine at the NIH the Performing Arts, where ingly touting arts programs,
and neuroscientists to tap reading and other school campus. she is an artistic adviser. “having a deeper under-
into the brain’s circuitry skills. The opera star — who part- Indeed, Jangraw notes a standing of how these
and figure out how. Stroke survivors who can’t nered with Collins to start saying in neuroscience: things are affecting our
“The brain is able to com- speak sometimes can sing, the Sound Health initiative Neurons that fire together, biology can help us un-
pensate for other deficits and music therapy can — spent two hours in the wire together. Brain cells derstand how to leverage
sometimes by using music help them retrain brain scanner to help research- communicate by firing resources already in our
to communicate,” said NIH pathways to communi- ers tease out what brain messages to each other community,” noted Wake
Director Dr. Francis Collins, cate. Similarly, Parkinson’s activity is key for singing. through junctions called Forest lead researcher
a geneticist who also plays patients sometimes walk How? First Fleming spoke synapses. Christina Hugenschmidt.
a mean guitar. better to the right beat. the lyrics. Then she sang Cells that regularly con- Proof may be tough. q