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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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Embodied knowledge and social touch
- 2020
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Communication between people can easily be regarded as a piece of music. All ingredients are there; The pitch, the rythm,, the coordination of movement patterns, the energy, the interpretation of gestures and mimicry. Music therefore is (or should be) a part of all communication in the medical world, as part of the Medicine and part of academia.From our findings regarding the theem #metoo; "We don’t use the same vocabular of “body borders” when you are talking to a person outside the music- and dance world”. "As a dancer/musican you are trained to regulate and adapt your perception, compared to a non dancer or non musician”. “To be touched” can mean so many different things for different people”. "There are differences between physial and emotional sensations”. “We have different body memories that affect our perception totally different”. Using the strong artistic experience that the performance of a musical work provides, we explore a) how musicians and composers can express and communicate difficult feelings and b) how emotional expressions from music influence the audience after attending the concerts. Our "knowledge concert", dealing with charged and sensitive topic as #metoo, is evaluated and reflected on.
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| 3. |
- Bojner Horwitz, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge concerts can facilitate emotionally sensitive embodied learning
- 2020
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Ingår i: Research Studies in Music Education. - 1321-103X .- 1834-5530.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Listening to music can facilitate improvement of cognitive skills and emotional intelligence, which are key antecedents of learning. Music listening can also improve auditory perception and memory. Adjacent to a concert of music evoking strong emotions, the audience was asked to complete a Visual Analogue Scale (10-cm) before and after listening to the concert, along five variables Arousal, Joy, Degree of upset, Daily worries and Benevolence. Changes in the responses to these scales were subject to analysis.Statistically significant changes were observed in the outcome measures of arousal (p=0.005), daily worries (p<0.001), degree of upset (p=0.048) and joy (p<0.001) but were not found for benevolence (p=0.93) in 228 concert attendees who completed the questionnaires. Age, gender and previous music experiences did not make a difference to perception of the music.Attending a music concert with sensitive, emotionally charged topics significantly contributed to stimulating emotional interpretation, which was used as preparation for a reflective participation in subsequent satellite seminars.
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| 7. |
- Bojner Horwitz, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Taking care of the researcher – a nature and art-related activity retreat : Sharing natural space put humanity in perspective
- 2020
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Ingår i: Work. - : IOS Press. - 1051-9815 .- 1875-9270. ; 67:3, s. 535-548
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: There has been insufficient study about how academic working life of researchers can be supported. OBJECTIVE: We examine the use of a nature and art-related activity retreat designed for researchers. The purpose was to evaluate if and how researchers perceived different workshop experiences set in nature as meaningful and important with regards to their self-care. METHODS: A mixed group of six researchers from Sweden, Finland, and the United States met for a three-day retreat consisting of self-selected nature and art-related activities. From data constituted from participant reflections, a focus group interview, a three months follow-up questionnaire, and an analysis of the workshops undertaken; three major themes were identified: “Sharing and connection”, “Embodiment” and “Nature”.RESULTS: Analysis of the workshop-style exercises did not show significant variance in reported meaningfulness and usefulness related to the activity itself. However, there was a strong correlation between perceived value and shared experience where the sharing of the natural space was felt to put humanity in perspective. CONCLUSION: Organizing and systematizing health preventive retreats for researchers in academia may be an important part of the sustainabile academic community in which the researcher needs to be better taken care of in a more embodied way. Although this study was conducted prior to COVID-19, such retreats and potentially also on-line versions) could be useful for managing through the pandemic and afterwards, in our new “normal”.
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| 8. |
- Saarikallio, Suvi, et al.
(författare)
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Music as a resource for psychological health for music professionals: A Nordic survey
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Arts, Culture and Health. ; 2:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Interest in the health relevance of music has been growing rapidly, yet few studies have addressed the protective role of music for music professionals themselves. In the current study, we investigated music professionals’ (music teachers, music therapists, musicians and academics) health, particularly their uses of music as a resource for their psychological health.Design: An online survey (N = 504) for music professionals was conducted across four Nordic countries. Participants responded to questions on music as a resource for psychological health and assessed their general levels of health and health behaviors. Their self-reported health was compared to similar prior data from the general Danish population (N = 14,022).Findings: Music professionals demonstrated high levels of self-reported health and health behaviors and approved of the idea of music as a resource for their psychological health. The most important psychological function of music for them was that music provided affective experiences. Music also provided feelings of belonging and supported mood regulation, but did not really offer relaxation or help to concentrate. Music teachers and therapists reported significantly higher use of music as a personal resource for psychological health than musicians and academics.Value: The results provide new insights into music playing a dual role – professional and personal resource – for different types of music professionals. The findings have relevance for how to address music in the training of musicians and create grounds for dialogue about the role of music for music professionals in comparison to laymen.
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