I came across this story that I wanted to share with my readers about the power of music. I was very touched by this woman’s ability to finally be able to express herself with music after so many years of being trapped inside her mind and body from such a devastating brain injury. I hope you are blessed by this story and gain a new appreciation of how much we need the expression of music in our lives.
Rosemary Johnson had made music for the first time since suffering a devastating car crash in her 20s.
Violinist Rosemary Johnson at approximately aged 17; Photo: Paul Grover/The Telegraph
Violinist Rosemary Johnson has spent the last 27 years coming to terms with the reality she would never make music again, following a devastating car crash. A member of the Welsh National Opera Orchestra she was destined to become a world class musician before the road accident in 1988, which left her in a coma for seven months.
Violinist Rosemary Johnson at approximately aged 19; Photo: Paul Grover/The Telegraph
Miss Johnson suffered a devastating head injury, robbing her of speech and movement and meaning she could only pick out a few chords on the piano with the help of her mother Mary.
“The first time we tried with Rosemary we were in tears. We could feel the joy coming from her at being able to make music” Professor Eduardo Miranda, Plymouth University
But now, thanks to cutting edge technology, she is creating music again, using just the power of her mind.
In an extraordinary 10-year project led by the Plymouth University and the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability in London, her brain has been wired up to a computer using Brain Computer Music Interfacing software.
Photo: Plymouth University
By focusing on different colored lights on a computer screen she can select notes and phrases to be played and alter a composition as it is performed by live musicians. The intensity of her mental focus can even change the volume and speed of the piece.
It is the first time Miss Johnson, 50, has been able to create music in decades and has been an emotional experience for the her, and the scientists involved in the program.
Photo: Plymouth University
“It was really very moving,” said Professor Eduardo Miranda, Composer and Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Computer Music Research at Plymouth University.
“The first time we tried with Rosemary we were in tears. We could feel the joy coming from her at being able to make music. It was perfect because she can read music very well and make a very informed choice.
Violinist Rosemary Johnson at approximately aged 25 after the accident; Photo: Paul Grover/The Telegraph
“The great achievement of this project is that it is possible to perform music without being able to actually move. She is essentially controlling another musician to play it for her.
“It’s not yet possible to read thoughts but we can train people to use brain signals to control things.”
Photo: Plymouth University
Three other disabled patients who live at the hospital have also been trained to use the technology, and have been working alongside four able-bodied musicians from the Bergersen String quartet who play the music in real time as it is selected.
They are called The Paramusical Ensemble, and they have already recorded a piece of music entitled Activating Memory which will be heard for the first time at the Peninsula Arts Contemporary Music Festival in Plymouth later this month.
Miss Johnson’s mother Mary, 80, of Hounslow, West London said the project had given her daughter new hope.
Violinist Rosemary Johnson at approximately aged 17; Photo: Paul Grover/The Telegraph
“Music is really her only motivation,” she said. “I take her to the grand piano in the hospital and she can only really play a few chords, but that was the only time she shows any interest. She doesn’t really enjoy anything else.
“But this has been so good for her. I can tell she has really enjoyed it. When she performed I went to the hospital and that is the first time I have heard her make music, other than the piano chords for a long, long time.”
The technology works like a ‘musical game’ where the players select pieces of melody at certain times of the performance to augment the overall work, which was composed by Prof Miranda.
Each patient wears an EEG cap furnished with electrodes which can read electrical information from their brain. They are paired with a member of the string quartet who views the musical phrases on a screen as they are selected in real-time.
Photo: Plymouth University
Julian O’Kelly, Research Fellow at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability added: “This is a great means of transcending disability to offer individuals a unique experience of creating music with each other, and interacting with skilled musicians to create original compositions.
“In the case of Rosemary, the project illustrated the great potential this innovation could have for participants who may have once been gifted musicians, but now lack the physical abilities to engage in music making.
“You could clearly see in her broad smile during the performance how much she enjoyed the experience.”
The patient quartet are made of Miss Johnson, Clive Wells, Richard Bennett and Steve Thomas.
Photo: Plymouth University
Speaking through an automated voice machine, Mr Thomas said: “I like music and I am very interested in the Brain Computer Music Interface. It’s more interactive with people actually getting my instructions.
“It was great to hear the musician play the phrase I selected. I tried to select music that was harmonious with the others. It’s very cool.”
The team are hoping that the technology could be used one day to improve mood and help them to express their feelings.
“If our patients were able to compose music to reflect their state of mind, that would be an amazing way for them to be able to express themselves and music therapists could then use that to work with the patients,” added Dr Sophie Duport, of Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability
Photo: Plymouth University
Joel Eaton, PhD Research Student at Plymouth University’s said: “One of the key things about this system is that not only does it give a user the interaction and control of an instrument, it allows them to interact with each other.
“If this idea was developed it could have ramifications in all areas of someone’s life. Potentially I can see the ability for someone to express musically how they are feeling again without their ability to move their fingers, to communicate with words.
I had a friend call me the other day and introduce a website and concept to me that I would like to share with you. This is another approach to the Solfeggio Frequencies that I believe has merit in offering a therapeutic medium for receiving positive effects from the frequencies. I really like what Michael and his team have done by sounding the different frequencies and then playing harmonizing instrumentation into the frequency – filling it out into wonderful worshipful music that brings the healing and peaceful atmosphere. It is another example of what I believe to be various forms of understanding these frequencies and how to employ them what God is releasing to His children for our healing and restoration. Michael tells anecdotal stories of healings he has observed, even with his own mother – just as I have observed healings as well with the harp music.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to share with you all an experience that I had this past week as my mother was admitted to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia. She was having difficulty breathing, lacked any strength and could not get much if any sleep. My sister was with her in the immediate hours of going to the ER and then being admitted onto the Surgical ward of the hospital and when she called me to come and take a shift of watching with my mom, she said, “Mom wants you to bring your harp.”
When I got to the bedside, mom looked very worn and was really coughing a lot but could not get anything out so she was just getting worn out but couldn’t get any rest. I tuned the harp up and started to play softly and you could see mom visibly relax very soon and within an hour, she was sleeping. It was mid-day, but I kept playing so she could sleep since she had really not slept any the night before. She got a good hour in before the staff came in and woke her for a treatment.
The ability for the harp to help her relax and get some sleep was really good, but what I had not considered was the effect the music would have on the staff and other patients. All through the day, I had people coming to the room thanking me for the music. They said it was carrying all through the whole unit and the nurses said they hadn’t had such a calm day in their remembrance. Other patients and family would walk by and express their appreciation and ask me to continue – “Please”.
One fellow asked me what I would charge to come play for his wife in her room and I said nothing, and went over to play for her and her roommate. They were both in tears. They had never had the opportunity to hear a harp before and were really touched by the music and the fact that someone would come and minister to them in this way.
Some of the staff commented that they would like to convince the management to hire me permanently because of the whole different atmosphere that was there as the harp music played. It was just amazing how much the harp music affected the whole unit.
Over the next three days, my mom got better – yes there were medicines, but I believe the harp was an integral part of her healing. She was able to get more sleep and finally get rested up so she could heal better. Her breathing got much better and she finally started getting the stuff out of her lungs. She was able to start walking in the halls even without oxygen too.
When the time came for me to leave, there was much protest. “You can’t take the harp away!” I left some of my music mp3 files which admittedly were not as good as live performance, but at least helped ease the parting. Once again, I was reminded through this experience of the power of this harp music and the 528 Hz frequency to calm and heal.
Mom is home now, mending very nicely, thanks to our Heavenly Father, harp music and excellent care by the hospital staff. Thank you all!
Instead of sharing an article for this post, I wanted to share a YouTube that someone shared with me recently. It was produced by Susan Bradley, R.N. and I can identify with much of what she says because I too am an R.N. and I have played in the E.R., at the bedside, and the surgical suit as she mentions. The harp as a form of therapy is being recognized more and more, and the healing that comes from the frequencies it releases can be quite amazing. I hope you enjoy this short video:
It’s been awhile since I posted an article so thanks for being patient with me. This article is very interesting and shows a measurable chemical response that our body can have to music. I believe it is one of many pieces of information that continue to show us how important music is to our health. I hope you are enjoying these posts – and feel free to send along any articles that you may find to my e-mail address: waterfallofgrace@hotmail.com
Blessings – Steve
9 January 2011 Last updated at 13:04 ET
Music ‘releases mood-enhancing chemical in the brain
By Sonya McGilchrist | Health reporter, BBC News
Researchers scanned volunteers’ brains with MRI and PET machines
Music releases a chemical in the brain that has a key role in setting good moods, a study has suggested.
The study, reported in Nature Neuroscience, found that the chemical was released at moments of peak enjoyment.
Researchers from McGill University in Montreal said it was the first time that the chemical – called dopamine – had been tested in response to music. Dopamine increases in response to other stimuli such as food and money. It is known to produce a feel-good state in response to certain tangible stimulants – from eating sweets to taking cocaine. Dopamine is also associated with less tangible stimuli – such as being in love.
In this study, levels of dopamine were found to be up to 9% higher when volunteers were listening to music they enjoyed. The report authors say it’s significant in proving that humans obtain pleasure from music – an abstract reward – that is comparable with the pleasure obtained from more basic biological stimuli. Music psychologist, Dr Vicky Williamson from Goldsmiths College, University of London welcomed the paper. She said the research didn’t answer why music was so important to humans – but proved that it was.
This paper shows that music is inextricably linked with our deepest reward systems.
Musical ‘frisson’
The study involved scanning the brains of eight volunteers over three sessions, using two different types of scan. This paper shows that music is inextricably linked with our deepest reward systems” By Dr Vicky Williamson Goldsmiths College, University of London
The relatively small sample had been narrowed down from an initial group of 217 people. This was because the participants had to experience “chills” consistently, to the same piece of music, without diminishing on multiple listening or in different environments. A type of nuclear medicine imaging called a PET scan was used for two sessions. For one session, volunteers listened to music that they highly enjoyed and during the other, they listened to music that they were neutral about. In the third session the music alternated between enjoyed and neutral, while a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI scan was made. Data gathered from the two different types of scans was then analyzed and researchers were able to estimate dopamine release. Dopamine transmission was higher when the participants were listening to music they enjoyed.
Consistent chills
A key element of the study was to measure the release of dopamine, when the participants were feeling their highest emotional response to the music. To achieve this, researchers marked when participants felt a shiver down the spine of the sort that many people feel in response to a favorite piece of music. This “chill” or “musical frisson” pinpointed when the volunteers were feeling maxim pleasure. The scans showed increased endogenous dopamine transmission when the participants felt a “chill”. Conversely, when they were listening to music which did not produce a “chill”, less dopamine was released.
What is dopamine?
Dopamine is a common neurotransmitter in the brain. It is released in response to rewarding human activity and is linked to reinforcement and motivation – these include activities that are biologically significant such as eating and sex. Dr Robert Zatorre said: “We needed to be sure that we could find people who experienced chills very consistently and reliably. “That is because once we put them in the scanner, if they did not get chills then we would have nothing to measure. “The other factor that was important is that we wanted to eliminate any potential confound from verbal associations, so we used only instrumental music. “This also eliminated many of the original sample of people because the music they brought in that gave them chills had lyrics.”
