[Perioperative music-induced analgesia : Comparison of the effect of music on pain between preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative application]. / Perioperative musikinduzierte Analgesie : Vergleich der Wirkung von Musik auf Schmerz zwischen prä-, intra- und postoperativer Anwendung.

BACKGROUND: Despite suitable analgesia procedures and interventions only approximately 24% of inpatients with strong to very strong pain receive adequate treatment. Besides opioids, which are associated with numerous side effects and risks, non-pharmacological approaches are increasingly being used. In this context, one of the oldest known methods are music interventions; however, the state of evidence is heterogeneous and there are no explicit manuals and recommendations for the effective implementation of music interventions. OBJECTIVE: This review aimed to determine the optimal time point at which perioperative music interventions can most effectively relieve pain. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A PubMed search was conducted and publications investigating the effect of music during the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative stages of various interventions were identified. RESULTS: During the preoperative phase, only positive effects of music on pain relief have been reported but availability of data is sparse. During the intraoperative stage of a medical intervention the effect of music seems to be mediated by the type of anesthesia procedure and sedation depth. Only patients who can consciously perceive the music seem to profit from it. Positive alleviating effects on subjective pain perception and analgesia needs were shown in the postoperative stage. CONCLUSION: Music is a non-pharmacological method to alleviate pain, which is free of side effects. Important considerations for the use of music interventions for relief of acute pain associated with surgery are discussed taking into account numerous mediating factors, which influence the efficacy of the treatment.

Pitch Memory in Nonmusicians and Musicians: Revealing Functional Differences Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation.

For music and language processing, memory for relative pitches is highly important. Functional imaging studies have shown activation of a complex neural system for pitch memory. One region that has been shown to be causally involved in the process for nonmusicians is the supramarginal gyrus (SMG). The present study aims at replicating this finding and at further examining the role of the SMG for pitch memory in musicians. Nonmusicians and musicians received cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the left SMG, right SMG, or sham stimulation, while completing a pitch recognition, pitch recall, and visual memory task. Cathodal tDCS over the left SMG led to a significant decrease in performance on both pitch memory tasks in nonmusicians. In musicians, cathodal stimulation over the left SMG had no effect, but stimulation over the right SMG impaired performance on the recognition task only. Furthermore, the results show a more pronounced deterioration effect for longer pitch sequences indicating that the SMG is involved in maintaining higher memory load. No stimulation effect was found in both groups on the visual control task. These findings provide evidence for a causal distinction of the left and right SMG function in musicians and nonmusicians.