Assignment范文-音乐的治愈力量

www.lxws.net Assignment范文-音乐的治愈力量尽管传统上人们认为音乐是一种艺术形式，很少与治愈联系在一起，但它已经被不同文化纳入治疗过程。音乐的社会性和情感性使其成为语言的完美替代品。另外，音乐对病人的影响往往难以量化，但长期影响是可见的。如今越来越多的人强调音乐在治疗中的重要性，音乐在很多场合都得到了成功的应用，特别是治疗痴呆和自闭症方面，都显示出了巨大的潜力。虽然音乐的影响可能是微妙的和不可检测的，但科学家们正在努力量化音乐的影响，使其成为心理治疗和物理治疗的重要因素。In the article “The Healing Power of Music” by William Forde Thompson and Gottfried Schlaug, published in Scientific America in March 2015, the ability of music to heal both mentally and physically is discussed. Although music is traditionally perceived as an artform and seldom correlated with healing, it has been incorporated into treatment processes by different cultures. The connection between music and psychology is established through four aspects. Firstly, the social and emotional feature of music makes it the perfect substitute for language. Secondly, the influence of music on the patient are often difficult to quantify, but long term effects are visible. Thirdly, there are increasing emphasis on the importance of music in therapies, which have been applied with success in multiple occasions. Finally, music has shown promising potentials in the treatment of dementia and autism. Although the effect of music can be subtle and undetectable, scientists are putting in more efforts to quantify the influences of music, making it an important element in psychological therapies and physical treatments.The healing powers of music is especially important when the patient has lost the ability of verbal communication. Music can transform the state of the patients from isolation to communication with cultural and community influences (Moreno, 2004). Under such circumstances, music is not only one form of communication, but the only one, serving as a bridge between the patient and the outside world. Many patients suffering from severe brain damages, making it difficult for them to communicate effectively due to the loss of the ability to make meaningful sounds (Thompson & Schlaug, 2015). However, many of these patients still possess the ability to sing. A treatment called melody therapy is thus invented so that singing becomes the way patients express themselves. Although blood is not able to reach the area in the brain where language is controlled, the area of music is in a separate area, making it possible to bypass the damaged part of the brain. It is crucial that music can take the place of language so that the patient is able to communicate with the outside world in a new way. Many case studies have proven that the melody therapy is indeed effective in restoring brain functions. With deeper understanding of the different types of patients and the brain damages they suffer from, the therapists are able to make personalized treatment plans for individuals. Although the outcome of the therapy is to make up for the loss of linguistic abilities of the patient, such treatments are more significant in reconstruction of the mental world of the patient.The correlation between music and psychology has had a long history. Both music hearing and music making can play an important role in the heling of the mind and the body. In the wall paintings in Egypt from thousands of years ago, music is used as the means to increase the fertility rate of women (Thompson & Schlaug, 2015). In the jungles of Peru, chanting is used as a main way of treatment by the Buddhists. In the tribes of Ghana, drum beats are often used in the process of the therapy. It can be seen that music has been incorporated as an effective element of physical treatment in different cultures around the globe, which cannot be a coincidence. Although it is difficult to understand how music can have physical effects, scientists are only beginning to discover the influence of music on the mind, and mind over body. The effect of music in such treatment are described by the authors in a subtle yet intriguing way. As the definition of music is not confined, it can be expressed in multiple forms and each can be effective in its own way. In addition, it is also the intrinsic nature of music to carry emotional and social traits, which means that music is much more than just sounds. In fact, music is able to generate emotional responses more effectively than any other form of art. Moreover, it hardly has any side effects, making it possible for long term treatment.Although music is a form of art and not perceived to be in association with psychology and neuroscience, the authors of the article has distinctly announced music and singing to be the “cure”. According to the observations made by neuroscientists and therapists, many of the patients with stroke are not able to speak but can sing without difficult, which means that they are not suffering from blood flow problems in the brain (Thompson & Schlaug, 2015). Therapists thus developed a treatment methods featuring singing. They encouraged patients (retired and injured soldiers) to make simple melodies with a couple of words and phrases, and tapping the rhyt