Classic and Traditional Music Role in Cognitive Function and Critically Ill Patients

Abstract

Music has been known since the ancestral era, and undoubtedly it has become an integral part of human life. Music has been widely studied, and its purpose encompassed not only as art and recreational but also as therapeutic agents. Listening to music enhances modulation in the mesolimbic pathway and affecting accumbens nucleus (NAc), ventral tegmental area (VTA), hypothalamus, and insula. Evidence support that music could enhance neuroplasticity and stimulate cognitive function. Laksmidewi et al. have already investigated that listening to western classical music and instrumental Balinese flute music therapy improved cognitive function in the elderly. Cognitive improvement by listening to music has been linked to the relationship between the orbitofrontal cortex and the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic circuit. Besides, musical intervention in severely ill patients showed its advantages in alleviating anxiety and distress symptoms. Patients with mechanical ventilation are prone to high anxiety and stress levels triggered by many factors such as endotracheal tube placement, critical care environment, frequent suctioning, and fear. Non-pharmacological intervention with music therapy is expected to help patients manage their anxiety and distract patients from stressful environments to assist their ventilator weaning effort.