MUSIC, BALLROOM DANCING

Musical performance was improved with alpha/theta (A/T) neurofeedback. Students from London's Royal College of Music were randomly selected and included in a blinded, controlled experiment where they essentially had to perform in front of a group of judges (under very stressful conditions), followed by alpha/theta neurofeedback, SMR, beta neurofeedback, physical exercise, and Alexander Technique training.

They then performed again and were evaluated. Only the alpha-theta group showed improvement in their musical performance. (Egner and Gruzelier, 2003) In the first study, 36 students (22 girls and 14 boys; mean age = 20.9, SD = 1.36) from the Royal College of Music (London) volunteered to participate, and in the second study, 61 students (43 girls and 18 boys, mean age = 23.1, SD = 2.21) volunteered to participate.

 

In the randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled study mentioned above, neurofeedback

significantly improved musical performance. (Egner T, 2003)

A similarly designed study also showed that alpha-theta neurofeedback produced professionally significant performance improvements in music students. This study compared alpha-theta neurofeedback with another form, biofeedback: heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, and a control group.

Twenty-four ballroom and Latin dancers were randomly divided into three groups, one receiving neurofeedback, one receiving HRV biofeedback, and the control group receiving no intervention. Students were videotaped while performing a piece and after feedback training. These videos were then

sent to expert evaluators.

The videos of the participating musicians (pre- or post-training time) and the training group were sent to experts who were blinded and the experts marked the results on standard conservatory grading scales. Dance performance was assessed before and after training. Improvements in performance were found to increase in the biofeedback groups, but no increase was observed in the control group. The alpha/theta feedback group improved their musical performance scores by up to two degrees (e.g., from a lower second grade to a first grade), while no significant change was seen in the other groups. Performing arts skills were most positively affected, and EEG changes were consistent with anxiety reduction (Egner & Gruzelier, 2004a). A notable improvement was observed in ballroom dance performance (Raymond J, 2005).

References:

Egner T, Gruzelier JH (2003) Ecological validity of neurofeedback: modulation of slow wave EEG enhances musical performance. NeuroReport, 14:1221–1224.

Raymond J, Sajid I, Parkinson LA, Gruzelier JH. Biofeedback and dance performance: a preliminary investigation. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2005 Mar;30(1):64-73. doi: 10.1007/s10484-005-2175-x. PMID: 15889586.