Music therapy heart-rate synchrony peaks around 25 minutes, study finds
Researchers say therapist-patient heart-rate alignment in music therapy appears to build over time, with a peak in the 20- to 25-minute range.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
3 min read
Heart-rate alignment between music therapists and patients appears to reach its strongest point about 25 minutes into a session, according to a new study led by Anglia Ruskin University. The finding could affect how clinics set session lengths, particularly where therapy time is tightly limited.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, examined music therapy sessions involving 11 neurorehabilitation patients. Anglia Ruskin University said the research is the first to identify when heart-rate synchrony may peak during music therapy.
The project included researchers from Anglia Ruskin University, the University of Applied Sciences Krems in Austria, the University of Bern, and the University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Bern. The team used electrocardiogram sensors to track heart-rate data and compared those measurements with video recordings of therapy sessions.
Previous research has linked heart-rate synchrony between people with empathy and emotional alignment, Anglia Ruskin University said. In psychotherapy, the same kind of physiological alignment has been associated with more productive sessions.
Synchrony built during the session
The researchers reported that heart-rate alignment between therapist and patient did not appear at its highest level at the start of a session. Instead, synchrony increased as the session developed, with the strongest levels appearing in a 20- to 25-minute window.
That timing may be relevant for health care providers, the researchers said, because music therapy sessions often must include setup, discussion and reflection as well as the shared musical work itself. If the strongest physiological alignment tends to arrive after roughly 25 minutes, sessions may need enough time for that process to unfold.
Dr. Sun Sun Yap, a music therapist who led the study as part of her Ph.D. work at Anglia Ruskin University, said the data suggest therapeutic processes in music therapy take time to develop. Yap said clinicians may need to consider whether session structures allow enough time for stronger physiological connection to emerge.
The study also found that periods of high synchrony were often led by shifts in the patients’ heart rates, according to the research team. The authors said that pattern may indicate patients have a more active role in shaping moments of connection than has been assumed.
Monitoring may reveal missed moments
The researchers also compared the heart-rate data with moments the therapist identified as especially meaningful. Peaks in synchrony did not consistently line up with those moments, according to the study.
The team said heart-rate monitoring could therefore help identify additional points of connection during therapy sessions. Those moments might otherwise go unnoticed if clinicians rely only on observation or post-session reflection.
Dr. Fabian Ramseyer, a senior researcher at the University of Bern and a co-author of the study, said more research is needed to understand how the amount of synchrony reached during a session relates to possible benefits or drawbacks for patients.
Jorg Fachner, professor of music, health and the brain at Anglia Ruskin University and co-director of ARU’s Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research, said intensity and immersion tend to grow as people take part in activities such as listening to music or drumming together. According to Fachner, the study’s results support the idea that synchrony develops as engagement builds over time.
This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.