Medea's Nuptial Gifts: Myth and Biomedical Reality.

In all art forms, Medea is mainly represented as the tragic witch from Colchis (contemporary Georgia), who slaughtered her sons and killed her erotic rival Glauke and her father, King Creon of Corinth, by offering an elaborate poisonous nuptial garment. Euripides described the victims' symptoms as a sudden extreme inflammation, leading anyone coming into contact with the garment to death. In other version, the inflammation is described as pure fire. The symptoms resemble what current medical knowledge describes as an immune contact sensitivity reaction. The passages with medical interest from the opera based on this tragedy are presented in the original musical form as well as some similar film and theater scenes. Magnified images of harmful insect's Medea's nuptial gifts are shown and their action is discussed.

Christoph Willibald Gluck (Erasbach [Berching], Alemania, 1714/Viena, Austria, 1787) / Christoph Willibald Gluck (Erasbach [Berching], Germany, 1714/Vienna, Austria, 1787)

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Neurological implications and neuropsychological considerations on folk music and dance.

Neurological and neuropsychological aspects of folk music and traditional dance have been poorly investigated by historical and scientific literature. Some of these performances could be indeed the manifestation of latent pathological conditions or the expression of liberation rituals. This chapter aimed at analyzing the relationships between traditional dance, folk music, and neurological and psychiatric disorders. Since ancient times, dance has been used in the individual or collective as treatment of some diseases, including epilepsy and movement disorders (dyskinesia, chorea, etc.). Dionysia in Ancient Greece, St. Vitus dance in the Middle Age, tarantism and other traditional dances of southern Italy and of non-Western countries might be credited as curative rituals of these neurological and psychiatric conditions. During the nineteenth century, dance was also used for the treatment of psychiatric patients; the relationship between dance and insanity could also be reflected in classical ballets and music of that period. Nowadays, neuropsychiatric manifestations could also be evidenced in modern dances (mass fainting at rock concerts, flash mobs); some ballroom dances are commonly used for the rehabilitation of patients suffering from neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions. Interdisciplinary research on these subjects (ethnomusicology and cultural anthropology, clinical neurology and dynamic psychology, neuroradiology and neurophysiology, and socioneurology and neuromusicology) should be increased.

Images by the vineyard: images of addiction and substance users in the media and other culture sites/sights.

This article constitutes a discovery journey into the world of drinking images, the pleasures and harms related to consuming alcoholic beverages, as well as the relationships between drinking and spirituality. These aspects are described historically and globally, over time through a series of snapshots and mini-discussions about both visual and mental images from art, classical literature and operatic music.The images are interpreted according to how they represent the drinking culture within which they were created and sustained, and how they are able to involve the spectator and the user in terms of either empathizing, accepting and including or distancing, stigmatizing and marginalizing the user.

[Johann Sebastian Bach: life, oeuvre and his significance for the cardiology]. / Johann Sebastian Bach: Leben, Werke und seine Bedeutung für die Kardiologie.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on 1685 in Eisenach. By the time he turned 10, Bach found himself an orphan after the death of both of his parents. After working in Weimar, Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, and Köthen Bach signed a contract to become the new organist and teacher at St. Thomas Church Leipzig in 1723 and stayed there until his death. In 1749, Bach tried to fix his failing sight by having surgery the following year, but the operation ended up leaving him completely blind. Few months later, Bach suffered a stroke. He died in Leipzig on July 28, 1750. In recent years, there were some questions whether music of different styles can directly alter cardiovascular parameters, particularly by using Bach's music. In some studies it has been shown that cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, heart rate) are influenced by music. Listening to classic music (Bach) leads to positive erffects, also music by Italian composters. In contrast, "modern" music, vocal music or songs had no positive effects on cardiovascular parameters. In addition, positive effects on cardiovascular parameters and behavioural patters have been shown in an animal study recently, by Bach's music. Recent studies showed clearly that music influences cardiovascular parameters. It is obvious that classical music (Bach) has benefitial effects, both in humans and in animals. Therefore, the music of the "Thomaskantor" will improve both, quality of life and cardiovascular health.

[The phenomenon of pain in the history of music ­ observations of neurobiological mechanisms of pain and its expressions in western music]. / Der Schmerz in der Musikgeschichte. Betrachtungen über die neurobiologischen Mechanismen des Schmerzes und seine Darstellungen in der abendländischen Musik.

Purpose of this essay is to provide a historical overview how music has dealt with the emotion and sensation of pain, as well as an overview over the more recent medical research into the relationship of music and pain. Since the beginnings of western music humans have put their emotions into musical sounds. During the baroque era, composers developed musical styles that expressed human emotions and our experiences of nature. In some compositions, like in operas, we find musical representations of pain. During Romanticism artists began to intrude into the soul of their audience. New expressive harmonies and styles touch the soul and the consciousness of the listener. With the inception of atonality dissonant sounds where experienced as a physical pain.The physiology of deep brain structures (like thalamus, hypothalamus or limbic system) and the physiology of the acoustic pathway process consonant and dissonant sound and musical perceptions in ways, that are similar to the perception of pain. In the thalamus and in the limbic system music and pain meet.The relationships of music and pain is a wide open research field with such interesting questions as the role of dopamine in the perception of consonant or dissonant music, or the processing of pain during music listening. Musicology has not yet embarked on a general investigation of how musical compositions express pain and how that has developed or changed over the centuries. Music therapy, neuro-musicology and the performing arts medicine are scientific fields that offer a lot of ideas for medical and musical research projects.

Paula Lind Ayers: "song-physician" for troops with shell shock during World War I.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the therapeutic uses of music during the First World War. This historical study provides a biography of Paula Lind Ayers (1891-1974), a vocalist, actress, and YMCA Entertainer who became known as "the girl who could sing away shell shock." OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to describe Paula Lind Ayers' respite services during World War I and provide a contextual biography of her life. METHODS: The author conducted an exhaustive search regarding Paula Lind Ayers' life and her activities during World War I. Numerous databases were used to locate print sources. Libraries, archives, and organizations were consulted to obtain unpublished primary sources. The author evaluated materials via a recursive process that included corroborating evidence, assessing source reliability, and contextualizing information. Data were synthesized and analyzed for emergent themes. RESULTS: Findings suggest that Paula Lind Ayers developed a systematic approach using familiar, live singing that was effective in alleviating symptoms of shell shock. Her method was replicated by others overseas during World War I. After the war, she returned to a successful performance career until the Great Depression. No information was found about Ayers' life from the year 1929 until her death in 1974. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding Paula Lind Ayers' contribution to music therapy provides a deeper awareness of past therapeutic uses of music with soldiers who experienced shell shock. Such understanding helps shape the way we view the present conception of music therapy with veterans and how we might answer questions that will affect the future of the field.

Music as a therapy: role in psychiatry.

Music is popularly believed to usher in bliss and serenity, and healing is considered its natural quality. It has an emotionally charging charisma of its own, that we all as listeners might have experienced at times. Music has been there with mankind since the beginning of history, but where does it stand as a therapy? Is there any evidence base? How this therapy came into being and how it has evolved, and what the old and current research says about its role in psychiatric disorders. This review tries to explore these questions and arrives at a conclusion that music certainly promises more than just entertainment, and evidence so far suggests music therapy can be beneficial in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, as a cost effective noninvasive adjunct to standard therapy in a variety of settings and patient groups, yet more validated scientific research is still required to establish it as a sole quantified therapy.

Music and 're-education' in Greek prison camps: from Makronisos (1947-1955) to Giaros (1967-1968).

This paper examines the policy of 're-education' for left-wing political prisoners in Greece during the military Junta (1967-1974) at the prison camp on the island of Giaros from 1967 to November 1968. Taking as its starting point the ways folk culture was used to substantiate the Colonels' ideological discourse and to give their rule aesthetic roots as a strategy of legitimization, the paper investigates how this kind of music was instrumentalized as a way of breaking political prisoners in exile. Music from loudspeakers was part of an attempt to make detainees sign Declarations of Loyalty, renouncing their values and their comrades. The 're-education' programme of Giaros is examined here as a remainder of the Greek Civil-War legacy (1946-1949), and particularly of the institutionalized 're-education' and 'rehabilitation' programme of the infamous prison camps on the island of Makronisos (1947-1955). Interviews with former detainees from both historical periods underline the damaging effects of the use of music, highlighting the need to understand music's capacity to degrade, but also torture, individuals instead of uplift and ennoble the soul.

[The relations between music and medicine in history and present]. / Die Beziehung von Musik und Medizin in Geschichte und Gegenwart.

Since the ancient world relations exist between music and medicine. In the prehistoric music, dance, rhythm and religious practice were important parts of shamanism and early medical procedures. Important philosophers of the classic period already began with the scientific research of musical and medical questions. During the middle age convents conserved ancient knowledge. They offered medical care and taught the ancient knowledge of medicine, arts and music. The Gregorian choral was created. Traditions of popular believe expressed the relations between music and medicine. The Renaissance became the great époque of art, music and science. Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius presented a new style of artistic working and scientific knowledge. Also the basics of western music, like tonality was developed. With the separation of scientific subjects in natural sciences and humanities, the relationships between music and medicine fall into oblivion. During the classic and romantic era music and art were important parts of cultural live of the well educated society. With the development of neurology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis more physicians and scientists were interested in musical questions. Questions about the role of music in human behavior and the ancient method to use music in medical treatment became popular. In the early 20th century the music therapy was developed. Today the effects of music to the human brain are investigated with radionuclear methods. A lot of investigations showed the effect of music and music performance to humans. Music plays an important part in psychotherapy, therapeutic pedagogy and medical care, the importance of music and music therapy increases. In the 80ies of the 20th century the performing arts medicine was developed, which asks for the medical problems of performing musicians.

[A journey with Euterpe. Sinfonia concertante for music, heart and brain]. / In viaggio con Euterpe. Sinfonia concertante per musica, cuore e cervello.

Unlike the Overlords, the highly cerebral alien beings of the Arthur Clarke's novel "Childhood's End", humans are strongly oriented toward music. Since the ancient cultures, the impact of music in eliciting physical and emotional reactions has been acknowledged, but its relationship with organic reactions has been mostly attributed to the domain of magic. Consistent experimental evidence shows that certain types of melody and rhythm might truly influence cardiovascular and neurophysiologic behaviours, while producing biochemical effects (e.g., reduction of stress), depending on the personal musical background of the listeners. As such, although the physiological basis is still poorly recognized, listening to the music has been proposed as a therapeutic for the treatment of a variety of disorders (the "Mozart effect"). This article, written in a "musical-like" form, provides a comprehensive analysis of reliable evidence supporting the influence of music on biochemistry and physiology, and concluding that the influence of music on human behaviours should be no longer confined to the realms of anecdote.