Positive News was handed the guardianship of Global Village News and Resources in summer of 2004. Although we would like to continue to make the archives available to subscribers and readers we would like to point out that stories published prior to issue 89 were not under our editorial guidance and would like to make a distinction that these are not necessarily a reflection of the current opinions of our editorial team.

United Kingdom - The healing effects of music have always been known and have been enshrined in the Orpheus legend, but perhaps the person who has done most to popularise this in recent years is Professor Oliver Sacks. He has described the effects of music on a number of neurological syndromes and documented them in books such as Awakenings, A Leg to Stand On, and famously, The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat.

Among music therapists in general, one of the most striking findings has been the pre-eminence of Mozart’s work as remedial music. This finding seems to be ratified by magnetic resonance imaging which, with Mozart, lights up the whole brain cortex instead of just the auditory centre as with other composers. Why Mozart is so special is being scientifically studied, especially in the USA but without waiting for the answers, Mozart compact discs, targeted to help children learn, sell like hot cakes. Every parent wants their child to make the grade.

But the bandwagon which has been gathering momentum is one which uses music – rhythms, amplitude, frequencies – and the therapies known as sound therapies. For, just as the active ingredients in healing plants have gradually become exploited pharmaceutically, the active ingredients of the Orpheus effect are also becoming increasingly recognised.

Sound therapies can be divided into two types: those that depend on a specialised invented hardware and necessitate regular visits to a therapist, and those that provide software – CDs – which can be used at home independently of a therapist, though usually at his recommendations.

The ‘hardware’ therapies were both invented, though independently, by two French ENT specialists: Dr Alfred Tomatis and Dr Guy Bernard. Tomatis produced an apparatus called the Electronic Ear and Bernard invented Audiokinetron. In both cases music is fed into the machines, where certain features can be altered and then relayed to the patient’s ear via headphones. Both Tomatis and Bernard have international followings independently of one another.

The Tomatis method addresses itself to a wide range of development problems, in which he feels the ear is specifically implicated. He has written a number of books on the ear and on his concept of how it functions, which is not in agreement with the theory of Von Bekesy. The way he started is of particular interest. He was the son of a Parisian opera singer and had a large clientele among singers. His father would suggest “Why don’t you go and see my son?” to his colleagues having throat trouble. In the majority of cases he found nothing wrong with their vocal apparatus, but when, on one auspicious day, he gave his client an ear test, he found that the audiogram dipped from the normal in precisely the frequencies with which the singer had trouble.

This was confirmed when he repeated the experiment with others, for the voice cannot produce what the ear cannot hear. In the most serious cases, of course, this has always been known – a child who is born deaf will also be mute – but Tomatis was able to demonstrate that the ear is responding to many lesser dysfuntions which nevertheless, cause serious disabilities. The Electronic Ear is used to make good aural dysfunctioning. And with regard to the music used, Tomatis is adamant that Mozart is to be preferred above all other composers.

Guy Bernard developed his Audio-kinetron in the first place to help with his own increasing deafness, but he found that with it he could also help others. Beside deafness, which it alleviates, the Audiokinetron was found to help dyslexia, autism and depression. The treatment was called Auditory Integration Training.

If the ear was compared to the eye, it is a commonplace that optical glassware will correct problems of focussing and accommodation, yet a hearing loss of 25 decibels is often reported to be “within normal limits.” But this degree of hearing loss will inevitably be accompanied by an auditory processing disorder, i.e., the further neuronal steps within the brain will be affected, and comprehension and memory will suffer. Besides which, difficulties of seeing are easier to recognize than those of hearing. Most of the things we see are stationary; they remain there to be looked at again. On the other hand if have had difficulty in following a conversation, the sounds have already gone!

At the other end of the hearing spectrum about 40% of autistic children suffer from hyperacousis: they hear too much, as though they are surrounded by road drills. Their over-riding need is to get away – their autism is a defence, especially as they have no way of knowing that their perception is out of the ordinary. Bernard found, besides, that a certain type of depression was signaled by a characteristic audiogram.

The Audiokinetron splits music into low and high frequencies, and into soft and loud amplitudes, sending them alternatively to the headphones. Bernard uses a great variety of music including jazz and reggae. Overall loudness too is gradually increased in a treatment that lasts for 10 days of two half-hour periods. The improvement noted at the end of the treatment will continue to appreciate for at least three months.

Of the ‘software’ therapies, one, Samonas, is produced in Germany; the other, TLP, in the United States. Both acknowledge a debt to Tomatis, and TLP also to Bernard. In both cases CDs have been produced, by reinforcement and/or filtering, to alter the overtone patterns of music offered. Samonas is the brainchild of Ingo Steinbach and is an acronym for ‘Spektral Aktivierte Music Optimaler Naturlicher Struktur’, or in English, ‘Spectral Activated Music of Optimal Natural Structure’. The word ‘spectral’ refers here to the concomitant frequencies of the sound spectrum, and has nothing to do with anything spiritual or ghostly! Like Tomatis, Steinbach uses Mozart very frequently, though not exclusively.

TLP, standing simply for the ‘The Listening Programme’, has been produced by a number of specialists in disciplines relevant to psycho-acoustics, which is the study of how music and sound affect the nervous system, and thus the mind. It consists of a package of CDs whose production has been overseen by musicians. Therapists are able to provide appropriate CDs for their patients and advise on their use. TLP uses baroque, classical and modern compositions. All the sound therapies address disabilities, which are usually developmental in nature, due to genetic or post-natal factors. Sound energises nervous tissue; music is psychologically rewarding. They all work.

The ‘software’ programmes, though they cannot be as individually tailored as the Tomatis or Bernard methods, represent a great saving in both time and money, and are altogether more user-friendly: CDs can be listened to at home and at one’s own convenience. Both Samonas and TLP require very good quality headphones (Sennheiser HD 535), or can be listened straight from a CD player. Which type is chosen is a matter of judgement. As with aches and pains, it depends on the severity and the available means as to whether a doctor or health professional is visited, or something bought over the counter.

Further Information: The Listening Centre (Lewes) Ltd, Maltings Studio, 16A Station Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7, UK tel: 01273 474877, fax: 01273 487500

The Sound Learning Centre, 12 The Rise, London N13 5LE, tel: 020 8882 1060, fax: 020 8882 1040 Samonas, tel/fax: 020 7900 1617

Listening and Health Products, tel: 01603 264724, fax: 01603 264722
http://www.thelisteningcentre.co.uk  & http://www.thesoundlearningcentre.co.uk 
Email: pallen@thesoundlearningcentre.co.uk  

(Adapted from an article by Elizabeth Foucard, appearing in Positive News: www.positivenews.org.uk)
 

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