Clinical Research Directory

Binaural Beat Music, Virtual Reality, and Hormones in Childbirth

This study aims to investigate the effects of Binaural Beats-supported music and virtual reality experience on the levels of oxytocin, prolactin, catecholamine, endorphin, prostaglandin E and cortisol, which are hormones that play an active role in birth, using the Elisa method. Additionally, the study will examine the effects of virtual reality experience and Binaural Beats-supported music during labor on labor pain and some birth outcomes (such as the presence of an episiotomy, the onset of labor, the duration of labor, and the newborn Apgar score).The randomized controlled study will consist of three groups: a virtual reality group, a Binaural Beats-supported music group, and a control group. The research will be completed with a total of 90 people, with 30 people in each group. The research will be conducted at the Maternity Ward of Istanbul Gaziosmanpaşa Training and Research Hospital. Ethics committee approval has been received for the research. Data collection has not yet begun. An application has been made to the hospital administration for institutional permission. The research will begin once the permissions are received.

Thoracic Mobility, Posture, Functional Capacity, and Respiratory Rate in Children Playing Wind Instruments

The aim of this study is to evaluate thoracic mobility, posture, functional capacity, and respiratory rate in children aged 8-14 years who play wind instruments and to compare these findings with those of their peers who do not play wind instruments. In line with this primary objective, the study seeks to comprehensively investigate the potential biomechanical and physiological adaptations associated with playing wind instruments in the context of childhood music education, with a particular focus on chest wall mobility, postural alignment, respiratory efficiency, and functional capacity. The novelty of this study lies in being the first to adopt a holistic perspective to examine the effects of wind instrument playing on the postural and cardiorespiratory systems during the sensitive developmental period of 8-14 years, which is known to be highly responsive to biomechanical adaptations. By addressing this understudied age group, the study aims to fill an important gap in the existing literature.

Effects of Different Music Tempos on Feeding Outcomes in Preterm Infants

Background Newborns perceive the world through sound, and music therapy in the neonatal intensive care unit has been shown to have significant benefits in terms of heart rate, oxygen saturation, sucking/feeding capacity, and length of hospital stay. However, it is still unclear what kind of music therapy can better promote early extrauterine growth in preterm infants, and further exploration and practice are needed. Music therapy is an emerging interdisciplinary discipline that integrates musicology, medicine, and psychology. In the uterine environment, the most important rhythmic sounds that the fetus can hear is the mother's heartbeat, as well as the fetus's own heartbeat. The maternal heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats/min, and the corresponding speed of 60-100 beats/min in music is medium speed. The fetal heart rate is 110-160 beats/min, and the corresponding speed of 110-160 beats/min in music is considered fast. Music slower than 40-50 beats/min is slow. The primary objective of this study is to investigate the effect of music therapy at different music speeds in preterm infants, at the time to full enteral feeding. Methods This is a single-center, randomized, open-label, parallel-controlled trial including 284 preterm newborns with gestational age or corrected gestational age ≥32 weeks admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit. The infants will be randomly allocated to receive music I, II, III or control therapy. The music therapy is provided with the same music in three different tempos: 40-50 beats/min, 60-100 beats/min, and 110-160 beats/min, by two professional licensed music therapists using the same instrument and singing, before morning and afternoon feeding time every day during hospitalization. The primary outcome is the time to achieving full enteral feeding. The secondary outcomes include sucking/feeding capacity, physical growth rate, complications, length of hospital stay, behavior state (Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP), Bayley III Infant Development Scale), and brain imaging (resting functional magnetic resonance imaging). Hypothesis: The investigator expect that either music therapy applied at 40-50 beats/min or 110-160 beats/min will result in early full enteral feeding, and reductions in length of hospital stay and complications in preterm infants.

Listening to Calming Music

The goal of this clinical trial is to explore possible benefits and mechanisms through which listening to music can improve health and wellness. The main goals of the study are: * To investigate whether pre-survey measures of autonomic reactivity relate to the overall functioning of participants. * To examine the immediate effects of listening to the augmented music. * To identify individual characteristics that influence the immediate effects of listening to the augmented music. Participants will: PHASE 1: * Complete the online pre- and post-surveys * Listen to the brief music demo * Listen to the full 15-minutes music session PHASE 2: * Complete the online pre- and post-surveys. * Heart rate data will be collected continuously for about 25 minutes. It will be collected for 5 minutes before and after the intervention, and for 15 minutes during the intervention. * Provide pre- and post- music saliva samples (1.5mL). * Listen to full 15-minutes music session.

Self-administered ONe-of-a Kind Approach to Epilepsy Therapy Through a Web-based Music Application

This is a prospective, placebo-controlled, double-blinded randomized study of self-administered auditory intervention in a naturalistic home environment.

Music Training and Child Development Study

This proposed study aims to provide a definitive answer to whether music training benefits brain development, particularly brain inhibition control circuitry and its related health outcomes using a randomized control trial design. In the study, 114 children between ages 6-8 from Los Angeles will be randomly assigned to a 24-month:(1) community-focused after school music training group focused on a traditional strings curriculum at the Colburn school in Los Angeles (MG) or (2) a control group (CG) after-school program comprising of visual arts, book club, ethnic and cultural studies and theater without specific focus on systematic music training or sports. Imaging data will be collected at before and after the intervention (24 months), behavioral assessments will be conducted before the intervention and yearly afterwards, and mid-intervention evaluations will be performed every six months throughout the study.

Analysis of Musical and Voice Skills in Children and Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Aims: To evaluate the perception and enjoyment of music in cochlear implant (CI) users using specific questionnaires, and comparing their results with a control group of subjects with normal hearing (NH). To analyze the musical abilities of implantees using the musical tool Meludia, and compare the results with the control group. To perfom a voice analysis in implanted patients, compare it with their NH peers, and check if an association with musical perception is observed. Design: Cross-sectional study, both the CI recipients and NH control subjects were assessed once. Setting and subjects: Pre-or perilingual patients aged 6 to 17 years old, and postlingual adults who underwent cochlear implantation from 2000 to January 2023 at La Paz University Hospital. Control group is set up with their NH peers. Study Variables: Socio-demographic and clinical (current age, age at implantation, sex, educational level) variables will be collected, as well as hearing loss (aetiology, duration of deafness), and surgical (type of implant, complete or partial insertion of the electrodes, date of surgery) data. Data from CI fitting (number of active electrodes, type of audio processor) and hearing outcomes with the CI will also be reviewed. Outcome variables: Specific musical skills questionnaires for adults: Munich Music Questionnaire (MuMu) and Music Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (MuRQoL), which will be validated. Musical questionnaire developed specifically for subjects between 6-17 years old. Musical tool (Meludia) to assess musical perception. Praat software for voice analysis. Analysis of the impact of the different audiological, sociodemographic and clinical variables on hearing outcomes, and on musical perception after cochlear implantation, and comparison with the NH control group.

Perioperative Music Listening on Anxiety, Pain, Analgesia Use and Patient Satisfaction

The use of music to relieve pain has been studied in many forms of medicines and has been proven to reduce anxiety, pain and analgesic use in the perioperative setting. However, music listening as an inexpensive and duplicable method has not been investigated and implemented in the local context. The investigators hereby propose a prospective study to recruit patients undergoing surgery to evaluate the effectiveness of music in pain relief and post-operative recovery; as well as the implementation and operational readiness of music listening.

Perioperative Music Listening on Anxiety, Analgesia Use and Patient Satisfaction

The capacity of music to relieve pain has been used in many forms of medicines and has been proven to reduce anxiety, pain and need for analgesia in perioperative setting. However, music listening as an inexpensive and duplicable method has not been studied in the local context. The investigators hereby propose a prospective study to recruit women who undergo surgery to evaluate the effectiveness of music in pain relief and post-operative recovery in KKH; as well as the possibility of implementing music listening in perioperative setting. The patients will be offered to listen to one out of several pre-determined lists of music of different genres before, and after surgery. Data including pain score, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score, EuroQol-Five Dimensions questionnaire-using Three Levels (EQ-5D-3L), vital signs, analgesia usage and patient satisfaction will be collected in the perioperative period. The collected data shall also be assessed if they are affected by the presence of music, duration of music listening, and the genre chosen by the patients. The investigators believe that this study could help determine the clinical relevance of music for pain relief in local setting, which potentially could reduce patient pain and anxiety caused by surgery. This in turn could allow music listening to be adopted as a non-invasive pain relief intervention in local healthcare settings and further improve patient outcome with lower cost and greater convenience as well as safety.

Orchestra in Class, a Novel Booster for Executive Functions and Brain Development in Young Primary School Children

How to optimally stimulate the developing brain is still unclear. Executive functions (EF) exhibited substantially stronger far transfer effects in children who learned to play a musical instrument than in children who acquired other arts. What is crucially lacking is a large-scale, long-term genuine randomized controlled trial (RCT) in cognitive neuroscience, comparing musical instrumental training (MIP) to another art form and a control group. Collected data of this proposal will allow, using machine learning, to build a data-driven multivariate model of children's interconnected brain and EF development over the first 2 years of their academic curriculum (6-8 years), with or without music or other art training.