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- Bojner Horwitz, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Biological correlates of togetherness strengthened by music making in ensembles
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Both singing and playing instruments in a group have been described in narratives as activities that increase cohesiveness. It has been speculated that music making is at the core of cultural activities in the history of humans. Music, dance and religious rituals including visual arts may have arisen because it was necessary to create strong and reliable bonds in a group, and such activities were effective for achieving this goal. This may even have increased chances of survival in life-threatening environments and this may still be true. According to our study of the Swedish Twin Registry, there is a clear relationship between total number of music practice hours in life (particularly ensemble practice) and ability to handle emotions. In monozygotic twins who are within-pair discordant with regard to piano-playing (one twin has practiced piano extensively and the other not) it has been shown that the size of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the right and the left hemispheres, is larger in the playing twin. Since corpus callosum is important not only for coordination of muscles in the right and left halves of the body but also for emotional skill this is of particular importance – music training may stimulate parts of the brain that govern emotion handling. During performance, strong group interactions can occur both within a music ensemble and between the ensemble and the audience. In our group we have an ongoing project MUSETHICA that examines biological, psychological and social processes when one ensemble plays the same piece in front of different audiences. Accordingly, the audience reaction is studied by means of visual analogue scales, group flow in the ensemble by means of a standardized questionnaire (flow synchronization scale) and heart rate variability on line (for the assessment of sympathetic and parasympathetic balance) during the concerts in all the members of the ensemble. Qualitative interview data focusing on perceived performance quality, group flow and support are collected. Results from a feasibility study will be presented. A string quartet whose young members are going through the advanced training program MUSETHICA for chamber music is performing the same quartet (Haydn opus 76 number 2, D minor) on two occasions the same day with two different audiences of school children aged 13-15. Despite the small size of the study sample the analyses of heart rate variability show that there was a borderline significant variability across the different movements on the two occasions with regard to parasympathetic (high frequency power) and sympathetic (heart rate) activity – with evidence of low sympathetic and high parasympathetic activity during the second occasion during the playing of movement 2. The children showed more uniform reactions on the second occasion according to VAS ratings. The feasibility study shows that it is practically possible to study these complex interactions and that the joint methodology has the potential of showing interesting processes related to group playing.
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| 2. |
- Bojner Horwitz, Eva
(författare)
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Fairy Tale, Music and Time –A Toolbox for Health Care
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of the project Quality of Life - Health and Culture is to strengthen Nordic-Russian cooperation and exchange of knowledge on culture in health care. Culture and health is a relatively new growing knowledge field in the Nordic countries and NW Russia. A healthy population has a positive influence on the countries’ competitiveness, growth and innovative capacity. The combination of culture and health cooperation contributes to increased sustainability within health care. The overall purpose is to enhance capacity of experts on health and culture in NW Russia and the Nordic countries by introducing Nordic and Russian experiences and knowledge of art and culture on health. The Fairy tale project is part of this Nordic Russian collaboration.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Bojner Horwitz, Eva
(författare)
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Taking care of the musician
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- For academic researchers the use of retreats in not yet commonly presented in the literature, and thus evaluations are also scarce. The increasing administrative burden as well as the pressure to “publish or perish” is well known. Being a researcher and seeking knowledge means that you face a potentially limitless amount of work and therefore it is important that we become more aware of our embodiment and adept in the skills of reading the warning signals of stress. Many musicians share this experienceThe results show a strong correlation between perceived value and shared experience where the sharing of the natural space was felt to put humanity in perspective. Irrespective of how the different workshops were evaluated, the total experience was related to a strong embodied share dexperience.Conclusion: 1.We need of a new vocabulary for researching researchers’ and musicians well-being, 2.The capacity of nature-related activities ability and meaning in the curriculum of academic life and in the life of a musician is warranted.
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| 5. |
- Theorell, Töres, et al.
(författare)
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Music listening as distraction from everyday worries
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Arts, Culture and Health. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 2535-7913. ; 1:1, s. 35-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Anecdote suggests that listening to music can help to distract from worries about ongoing life problems.Purpose: In this study we examine the phenomenon and ask, to what extent does music listening alleviate worry, and under what circumstances? Our focus was on the immediate temporary effects.Methodology: We performed four pilot experiments with audiences comprised of different ages and backgrounds of musical experience. As part of these experiments, we constructed a visual analogue scale (VAS) to assess “daily worry” together with the three other dimensions of tiredness-arousal, sadness-happy and anxiety-calmness. Participants were asked to listen to live classical music and to fill out the VAS before and after assessments. The experiments enabled us to examine the similarities and differences among audiences of different ages and music experience with regard to the capacity for music to distract them from their worries, what we term ‘worry distraction’.Findings: In the different listening situations, the self-rating of daily worries decreases after listening to live, high-quality professional performances of classical music. In our experiments, previous experience of classical music does not have a significant effect on decreased worry while listening. University level education in general, however, is associated with an increased effect. This prompts a discussion regarding the role education plays as a determinant for health – including the relationship between experiences of music in relation to health.Originality: It is striking that live classical music could affect daily worries of people across different age groups evaluated with our simple and easily distributed Visual Analogue Scale. This could therefore be recommended for evaluations in other contexts.
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