Researchers find way to improve musical performance using biofeedback
Wednesday 23 July 2003
Researchers from Imperial College London and Charing Cross Hospital
have discovered a way to help musicians improve their musical performances
by an average of up to 17 per cent, equivalent to an improvement of one
grade or class of honours.
The research published in this months edition of Neuroreport, shows that
using a process known as neurofeedback, students at London's Royal College
of Music were able to improve their performance across a number of areas
including their musical understanding and imagination, and their
communication with the audience.
Dr Tobias Egner, from Imperial College London at Charing Cross Hospital,
one of the authors of the study, comments: "This is a unique use of
neurofeedback. It has been used for helping with a number of conditions such
as attention deficit disorder and epilepsy, but this is the first time it
has been used to improve a complex set of skills such as musical performance
in healthy students."
Two experiments were conducted involving a total of 97 students. In both
experiments, the students were assessed on two pieces of music, both before
and after the neurofeedback training, according to a 10-point scale adapted
from a standard set of music performance evaluation criteria of the
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, by a panel of expert judges.
The judges evaluated video-recorded performances, and were unaware of
whether the performance had been given before or after the intervention.
Neurofeedback monitors brain activity through sensors attached to the
scalp which filter out the brainwaves. These filtered brainwaves are then
fed back to the individual in the form of a video game displayed on screen,
and the participant learns to control the game by altering particular
aspects of their brain activity. This alteration in brain activity can
influence cognitive performance.
In the first experiment, 22 students out of 36 were trained on two
neurofeedback protocols (SMR and beta1), commonly used as tools for the
enhancement of attention, and, following this, on a deep relaxation
alpha/theta (a/t) protocol. In addition a second group of 12 was engaged in
a regime of weekly physical exercise and a mental skills training programme
derived from applications in sports psychology. A third group consisted of a
scholastic grade and age matched no-training group, which served as a
control grade.
In the second experiment, a different cohort of students were randomly
allocated to one of six training groups: alpha/theta neurofeedback, beta1
neurofeedback, SMR neurofeedback, physical exercise, mental skills training,
or a group that engaged in Alexander Technique training.
All of the students who received neurofeedback training were found to
have improved their performances marginally compared with those who received
other forms of training, but those who had received the alpha/theta (a/t)
protocol improved their performance the most. The range of improvement in
performance for the alpha/theta group was between 13.5 per cent and 17 per
cent.
Professor John Gruzelier, from Imperial College London at Charing Cross
Hospital, and senior author of the study, adds: "These results show that
neurofeedback can have a marked effect on musical performance. The
alpha/theta training protocol has found promising applications as a
complementary therapeutic tool in post-traumatic stress disorder and
alcoholism. While it has a role in stress reduction by reducing the level of
stage fright, the magnitude and range of beneficial effects on artistic
aspects of performance have wider implications than alleviating stress."
Imperial College London
|
