Increasing gamma oscillation reflects the effect of music therapy on overall psychiatric symptoms

524 

Abstract Submission 

liju wang¹, Jiaxian Chen², Ting Liu³, Lujie Wang⁴, Sijia Guo², Jing Lu¹

¹School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China, ²School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, Sichuan, ³Chengdu Dekang Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, ⁴Musicology Department, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Chengdu, Sichuan

liju wang  
School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, China

Jiaxian Chen  
School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, Sichuan

Ting Liu  
Chengdu Dekang Hospital
Chengdu, Sichuan

Lujie Wang  
Musicology Department, Sichuan Conservatory of Music
Chengdu, Sichuan

Sijia Guo  
School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, Sichuan

Jing Lu  
School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Chengdu, China

Previous studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia have a decrease in gamma oscillation, which is closely related to their cognitive deficits such as attentional distraction, decreased executive function, and social difficulties^{1, 2}. Music therapy as an adjunctive therapy to improve cognitive function in schizophrenia patients was proved by clinical behavioral evidence^3-5, but the neuroimaging evidence is still insufficient. In our work, schizophrenia accepted a five-week combined group music therapy which united receptive and active music training, integrating singing, composing, and listening, and required patients to cooperate in a group to complete music therapy tasks⁶. We calculated the gamma-band power spectral densities of electroencephalography (EEG) signals in the music therapy group and visual art therapy group (control group) before and after therapy to study the neural mechanism of music therapy for schizophrenia.

We recruited a total of 32 patients with schizophrenia from Chengdu Dekang Hospital in Sichuan Province, including 17 in the music therapy group and 15 in the visual art therapy group. There was no significant difference in age and clinical diagnostic performance between the two groups. The therapy schedule was designed by Professor Wang Lujie, a professional music therapist from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and the schedule was five weeks long, with two sessions per week, each session lasting 45 minutes (more therapy details are shown in Figure 1). Behavioral scales of the Standardized Rating Scale for Chronic Psychosis (SRCP) and resting-state EEG data were collected. Then, the Welch method was used to calculate power spectral density (PSD) in the gamma band and statistically analyzed the PSD values and behavioral data using t-tests before and after five-week therapy.

After therapy, the SRCP scores of both the music and visual art therapy group significantly decreased (music therapy group: p < 0.0001, t = -8.899; visual art therapy group: p = 0.0004, t = -4.583, Figure 2. A). Moreover, the decline in scores in the music therapy group was greater than that in the visual art therapy group (p = 0.0363, t = 2.192, Figure 2. B). The gamma-band PSD values in the prefrontal lobes increased after the music therapy (p = 0.0480, t = 2.1415, Figure 2. C) and this change was linearly correlated with (the change of SRCP score/ Original SRCP score) (p < 0.0001, r = -0.8601, Figure 2. D), whereas there was no significant change in the gamma-band PSD after the visual art therapy.

Consistent with previous research results^{7, 8}, both music and visual art therapy can effectively help schizophrenia patients relieve their psychiatric symptoms, while music therapy showed better and more significant overall psychiatric symptom intervention effects than visual art therapy. Meanwhile, for the music therapy group, the increase in the prefrontal gamma power spectrum was linearly correlated with the change in the SRCP score, revealing that improvement in overall psychiatric symptoms was accompanied by stronger gamma oscillation, so we infer that music therapy may improve overall psychiatric symptoms by increasing prefrontal gamma oscillation.

Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) ¹

Music ²

Schizophrenia

Other - Music Therapy Gamma Oscillation