Congratulations to LIC's newest published authors:

Dr. George Stefano, Mr. Steven Bernstein, and President Minsun Kim

** Copies available at LIC and at www.amazon.com

Musical Healing By. G. B. Stefano, S. Bernstein and M Kim Published by ISL-Press.
In press.

It is hard to rival the experience of listening to good music. When a favorite song or piece is played, the feelings of happiness, nostalgia, excitement, or even sadness, are felt with such depth they seem to be all we are capable of in that moment. One surrenders to this intangible force as if completely controlled by the emotions. We revisit these strong feelings time after time, with new and old music. Why do we keep coming back? What exactly are we getting from music; what is it doing to us?
These feelings have been recognized for thousands of years. More specifically, throughout our time on Earth as cognitive beings, music was used as a healing agent for those with all sorts of illnesses. Music would be prescribed, along with medicine and rest, as an attempt to help ease the physical and mental stress of various maladies. In more recent times, such traditions have been lost due to the technological drive to perfect medical treatment. The basic, emotional responses elicited by music listening have been largely neglected within the world of science.
Musical Healing uncovers the lost art of music therapy through the eyes of science. With explanations of the history of sound and music, modern research and therapy techniques, through the biology of hearing and perception, the reader will have a better understanding of music and its effects, especially in a therapeutic setting.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Nature of Sound and Music
Chapter 2 The Historical context of Music Healing
Chapter 3 Music as Medicine
Chapter 4 Music Therapy Interventions
Chapter 5 Music as an Aid in the Development of the Social self
Chapter 6 Stress
Chapter 7 Stress and Cardiovascular Disease
Chapter 8 Belief and Music Therapy
Chapter 9 How Music Helps our Bodies Deal with Stress
Chapter 10 Musical Healing and Mental Disorders

Research Reports:

1. The Effects of Auditory Perception and Musical Preference on Anxiety in Naïve Human Subjects by Elliott Salamon, Steven R. Bernstein, Seung-A Kim, Minsun Kim, George B. Stefano. Medical Science Monitor. 2003 –in press.
Summary
Background: The use of music as method of relieving anxiety has been studied extensively by researchers from varying disciplines. The abundance of these reports focused on which genre of music, best aided in the relief of stress. Little work has been preformed in the area of auditory preference in an attempt to ascertain whether an individual’s preferred music type aids in their anxiety reduction at levels greater than music that they have little or no propensity for.
Methods: In the present report we seek to determine whether naïve human subjects exposed to music of their preference show a decrease in anxiety, as measured by systolic and diastolic blood pressure values. We furthermore contrast these values to those obtained during non-preferred music listening.
Results: We found statistically significant reduction of anxiety levels only when subjects were exposed to their preferred musical selections.
Conclusions: Students participating in the study already had knowledge of what genre of music would best relax them. It is our belief, that within the general population, many people do not have this self understanding. We conclude that music therapy may provide a mechanism for this self-understanding and subsequently help alleviate anxiety and stress.

2. Sound Therapy Induced Relaxation: Down Regulating Stress Processes and Pathologies Elliott Salamon, and Minsun Kim John Beaulieu and George B. Stefano –Medical Science Monitor, 2003 May;9(5):RA96-RA101. Summary
The use of music as a means of inducing positive emotions and subsequent relaxation has been studied extensively by researchers. A great deal of this research has centered on the use of music as a means of reducing feelings of anxiety and stress as well as aiding in the relief of numerous pathologies. The precise mechanism responsible for these mediated effects has never been truly determined. In the current report we propose that nitric oxide (NO) is the molecule chiefly responsible for these physiological and psychological relaxing effects. Furthermore this molecules importance extends beyond the mechanistic, and is required for the development of the very process that it mediates. Nitric oxide has been determined to aid in the development of the auditory system and participate in cochlear blood flow. We show that NO is additionally responsible for the induced exhibited physiological effects. We proceed to outline the precise neurochemical pathway leading to these effects. Furthermore we explore the interrelationship between the varying emotion centers within the central nervous system and explain how the introduction of music can mediate its effects via NO coupled to these complex pathways.

3. Music as an Aid in the Development of the Social Self
Elliott Salamon, George B. Stefano and Minsun Kim
Medical Science Monitor 2002 Dec;8(12):SR35-8.
Summary
The development of the social self has been a topic of interest to developmental psychologists for some time. With the recent emphasis placed on the effect of the nuclear family and its increasing paucity, researchers have been even more pressed to develop alternate means to aid in the social effects of family and subsequently enhance a child’s assertion of independence. In our paper we explore some of the possible ways by which developmental learning occurs, most notably by implicit or unconscious acquisition. We further provide some historical background explaining the emergence of this unconscious learning. Once we understand the process by which this learning occurs and the historical context in which it operates we can put forth our hypothesis. We suggest that an effective way of aiding or supplementing the role of the family is by providing a theoretical family unit. Specifically we propose that participation in musical or band related activities aids in the emergence of adolescence independence and a healthy self concept.

1. Salamon, E. Stefano, G.B., and Kim, M. Music as an Aid in the Development of the Social Self: The Significance of Sound in Learning. Medical Science Monitor 2002; 8(12):SR35-8.

2. Salamon, E., Kim, M., Beaulieu, J. and Stefano, G.B. Sound therapy induced relaxation: Down regulating stress processes and pathologies. Med. Sci. Monitor, 2003; May;9(5):RA96-RA101.

3. Salamon, E., Bernstein, S.R., Kim, S-A, Kim, M. and Stefano, GB (2003) The effects of auditory perception on anxiety in na?e human subjects. Med. Sci. Monit. In press.

Book: Musical Healing, EDs. Stefano, GB and Kim, M. . ISL Publishers. 2003. in press.