ABOUT MUSIC THERAPY
Music therapy is curious because although it appears to enhance patient outcomes by reducing stress and chronic pain or by helping stroke patients regain speech, children with autism engage socially, and patients with Parkinson’s improve their gait, the effects are difficult to measure and the biological mechanisms are not well understood. As interest in music therapy deepens, relevant literature on the subject continues to grow. Some of the published physiological benefits of music therapy include reduced cortisol levels (Chanda et al., 2013), increased production of immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells (Levitin, 2007), greater speech fluency and decreased aggression for patients with dementia (Brotons et al., 2000; Clark et al., 1998), and improved vital signs, feeding, and sleep in premature infants (Loewy et al., 2013).