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Relaxation/Stress
Management
“The Effect of Vibrotactile and Auditory Stimuli on Perception of
Comfort,
Heart Rate, and Peripheral Finger Temperature”
Source:
Journal of Music Therapy, XXVIII (3), 1991, p.120-134
Location: Florida State University
School of Music
Tallahassee, FL
Date: 1991
Contact Information: Dr. Jayne M. Standley
Department of Music Therapy
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
This study was carried out to compare how music and the sound of a dentist’s
drill, were experienced by college students when presented both via
a tape player, and via a Somatron.
One hundred and thirty college students participated in this
study.
The author found that, regardless of the type of sound, vibrotactile
stimulation appeared to “blunt perception” and
students reported that both their comfort and discomfort levels were reduced.
When the sounds were experienced via the Somatron, students’
temperature was more likely to increase which, when measured via the
finger, has been shown to indicate improved relaxation.
The increases in temperature were found to be statistically significant
(p<0.05). Students
using the Somatron appeared to be more likely to have an decrease in
their heart rate following the first sound that was presented (regardless
of whether it was the music or the sound of the dental drill) and then
an increase when the second sound was presented .
This was the reverse case for the students that heard the sounds
via a tape player.
Those students who used the Somatron reported that they generally
liked the experience regardless of whether the dental drill or the music
were presented, in fact the sound of the dental drill was preferred
more when experienced this way.
Males were found to prefer their experiences with the Somatron
more so than females.
“The Effectiveness
of the Somatron to Enhance Relaxation"
Source:
Unpublished
research paper
Location: St. Mary's Hospital
West Palm Beach, Florida
Date:
Contact Information: Chuck Feeman, M.M., RMT-BC
901 45th Street, PO Box 24620
West Palm Beach, Florida 33416-4620
Twenty individuals, patients and staff of a psychiatric facility,
experienced fifteen minutes of music, vibrotactily, via a Somatron recliner.
Twenty similar individuals experienced the same fifteen minutes
of music, non-vibrotactily but under the same environmental conditions,
while sitting in an ordinary reclining chair. The
study’s participants reported an overall reduction anxiety following
the music regardless of how it was presented.
These reductions in anxiety were found to be statistically significant.
The researcher reported however, that the reduction in anxiety
experienced by the individuals using the Somatron was greater than that
experienced by the individuals listening to music via a cassette player
while sitting in the recliner. This difference between the groups was
also found to be statistically significant.
“Music and Relaxation Techniques: A Combined Approach to Reduce
Muscle Tension Level"
Source:
Unpublished
research paper completed during a degree program at the University of
Miami
Location: University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Date: September,
1986
Contact Information: Jose Hernan Serra
Twelve college
students participated in this research project which looked at the success
of the Somatron in reducing muscle tension. All students received a relaxation session
using a Somatron. One group
of students were presented with a selected piece of “soothing music”,
a second group of students were presented with a pre-recorded muscle
relaxation program, and the remaining group of students were presented
with the pre-recorded relaxation program and soothing music at the same
time. Electromyographic equipment (EMG)
was used to measure the muscle tension of the students. The researcher found that the students
using the soothing music with the Somatron had a tendency for increased
muscle tension whereas the students using the pre-recorded relaxation
program with the Somatron and those using the relaxation program and
soothing music together with the Somatron had a tendency for reduced
muscle tension. The results were not found to be statistically
significant and in fact were reported to be somewhat contradictory to
verbal reports provided by the students. The students that used the soothing music
with the Somatron reported that they felt a good degree of relaxation,
despite the fact that their muscle tension was found to increase. Similarly, the students using the pre-recorded relaxation
program with the Somatron felt that the program itself caused them to
experience an increase in tension, despite the fact that their muscle
tension was found to be reduced.
The researcher suggested the small number of students involved
in the study and the lack of adequate control over noisy distractions
and other interruptions during the study as possible suggestions for
the discrepancies that were found.
“Clinical Trial of a Music Generated Vibrotactile Therapeutic Environment
for Musicians: Main Effects and Outcome Differences Between Therapy
Subgroups"
Source:
Published
Journal Article
Journal of Music Therapy, XXXIV (1)
1997, p. 2-32
Location: North West England
Date: 1997
Contact Information: Dr. Warren Brodsky, CMT/RMT-BC
Department of Behavioral Sciences
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
POB 653
Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Having
identified
the prevalence of performance anxiety amongst professional musicians,
the authors of this study compared a “music enhanced therapy”, that
utilized vibrotactile stimulation via a Somatron recliner along with
traditional counseling techniques, with counseling alone, and counseling
in combination with music. Each
of the three counseling techniques were found to benefit the musicians
who reported reduced levels of anxiety, improvements in mood, and a
reduction in the amount of pressure they reportedly felt before performing.
The positive effects of the counseling interventions were also
found to still be present 2 months after the study had been completed.
“The Effects of Vibrotactile Stimulation via the Somatron, on the
Relaxation, Tension, Pain, and Mood Levels of Chronic Pain Patients”
Source:
Unpublished pilot research project
Location: Capitol Medical Rehabilitation Hospital
Under the supervision of Dr. Jayne Standley
Department of Music Therapy
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
Date: Fall,
1993
Contact Information: Catherine L.W. Szuch, MM, MT-BC
Research conducted under the name of Catherine L. Walters
919-479-3292
This
research consisted of a pilot investigation carried out with four adult,
male, chronic pain patients. Each patient received twenty minute sessions
of vibrotactile stimulation via a Somatron table using music that reflected
their individual musical tastes.
Patients rated their levels of pain on a 0-7 scale (0=no pain,
7= extreme pain) both before and after their session(s) with the Somatron.
Generally, the patients did appear to gain some pain relief reporting
slightly lower pain ratings at the end of their session(s) than they
did before their session(s) started.
The findings were not statistically significant, however, the
number of patients that participated was small.
“Music and its Effects on Mood”
Source:
Unpublished research completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for BA Program
Wheaton College, Norton, MA.
Location: Center for Music Research
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL
Date: 1993
Contact Information: Catherine L.W. Szuch, MM, MT-BC
Research conducted under the name of Catherine L. Walters
919-479-3292
This study looked at the mood of
twenty-nine college students before and after they experienced
one of three current popular songs,
1) “Vibeology”
by Paula Abdul, 2)
“So Hard to Say Goodbye” by Boys 2 Men, and 3) “Songbird” by
Kenny G, vibrotactily via a Somatron.
Readings of the student’s finger temperature were taken throughout
their experience as a measure of their level of stress. Overall
finger temperature was found to increase during the vibrotactile experience.
Increases in finger temperature have been reported to be a physiological
indicator of reduced levels of stress. The increase in finger temperature
was found to be statistically significant for each of the three songs
used (p<0.05) suggesting that these particular musical selections
were found to be relaxing by college students when experienced using
a Somatron.
"The Effects of Whole Body Acoustic Stimulation on Subjective Relaxation,
Verbalization, and Visual Imagery among Professional Orchestra Musicians"
Source:
Paper
presented at third triennial ESCOM conference
Uppsala, Sweden
Location: North West England
Date: 1997
(Research presented June 1997)
Contact Information: Dr. Warren Brodsky, CMT/RMT-BC
Department of Behavioral Sciences
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
POB 653
Beer-Sheva
84105, Israel
John Sloboda
Keele University
Staffordshire
England
This
study followed Dr. Brodsky’s prior research “Clinical Trial of a Music Generated
Vibrotactile Therapeutic Environment for Musicians: Main Effects and Outcome Differences Between
Therapy Subgroups” published in the Journal of Music Therapy (See previous
synopsis) and was presented at the Third Triennial ESCOM conference
in Uppsala, Sweden.
Based
on the results of the previous research, Dr, Brodsky and his research
colleagues noted some differences in the responses of musicians using
a Somatron recliner. These
differences were found in the responses of these musicians to relaxation,
verbalization, and visual imagery interventions implemented to deal
with stress. Dr. Brodsky
and his colleagues reported that they felt that the differences they
observed could be attributed to “whole body stimulation” i.e., applying
the vibrations of music to large surface areas of the body.
In
order to look at this idea further, Dr, Brodsky and his colleagues designed
another study to look specifically at the differences they had found
previously.
Dr
Brodsky approached professional orchestra musicians to volunteer to
participate in this study by
sending out questionnaires to orchestra management personnel at three
cities in North West England.
Fifty four professional musicians agreed to participate in the
study. The average age of the musicians was 36
years and there were about equal numbers of men and women volunteering. The majority of the musicians were string
players.
The
study matched the volunteers both between as well as within the three
different cities in an attempt to make sure that the musicians at each
different location were similar for comparison.
Each
participating volunteer was assigned at random to one of three study
conditions:
1) “Verbal”. A relaxation program consisting of verbal
conversation, visual imagery tasks and other relaxation exercises. Musicians were seated in the Somatron
recliner but vibration was not
used.
2) “Music”. A relaxation program consisting of verbal
conversation, visual imagery tasks and other relaxation exercises paired with pre-recorded
music. Musicians were seated
in the Somatron recliner but
again, vibration was not used.
3) “Somatron”. A relaxation program consisting of verbal
conversation, visual imagery tasks and
other relaxation exercises, again paired with pre-recorded music
but this time the music was played
through the speakers embedded in the Somatron recliner.
Therefore the musicians in this group were seated in the Somatron
recliner and did experience the
vibration.
Each
musician, regardless of group, received 8, individual, 50 minute relaxation
sessions over a period of 8 weeks.
At the beginning and end of every session, the musicians completed
copies of the questionnaire “Profile of Mood States” (POMS).
At
the end of the study, the researchers found several statistically significant
results showing that patients experienced a reduction over time of tension-anxiety,
depression-dejection, anger-hostility, and confusion-bewilderment.
However, these results were found in all groups indicating that
all three of the relaxation programs were beneficial to the musicians
that participated. Dr. Brodsky and his colleagues then looked
more closely at the specific relaxation interventions to see if differences
between the three groups could be identified. Differences between the groups were
noted as follows:
Verbal Relaxation: Musicians assigned to the Somatron group
were found to have more emotional responses to this intervention, some
individuals were reported to experience unexpected “flooding ” of emotions,
other times musicians reported that they were elevated to a “peak”.
Verbal Conversation: Musicians were asked to talk about the
meaning and impact that music had had in their lives prior to and during
the process of becoming a professional musician. Both the musicians assigned to the “Music”
group and those assigned to the “Somatron” group were found to give
much more in-depth and emotional descriptions of their experiences. The musicians assigned to the “Verbal”
group seemed rather to provide much shorter and less in-depth explanations.
Visual Imagery:
This exercise involved various imagery exercises including having
musicians visualize performing on stage.
The researchers noted that only musicians assigned to either
the “Music” or “Somatron” groups actually reported feeling sensations
as if they were actually performing on stage.
Dr. Brodsky and his colleagues concluded that music
as well as music vibration appeared to both enhance the experience of
imagery as well as evoke more memories and associations. Comparing the “Music” and the “Somatron”
musicians further, the researchers found that the imagery of the musicians
in the “Music” condition was both shorter and mono-thematic than that
of the musicians in the “Somatron” condition.
Dr.
Brodsky discussed the limitations in the methods they used to interpret
the sessions with the musicians as possible reasons for the limited
statistical significance. However,
he also pointed out that his findings were consistent with the findings
of other researchers who have reported that the effects of using the
Somatron may be more subtle and indirect.
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