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Music Therapy with Neurofeedback in Palliative Treatment of Advanced Cancer

Title Music Therapy with Neurofeedback in Palliative Treatment of Advanced Cancer
Publication Type Master Thesis
Year of Publication 2019
Authors Bedrani, L.
Abstract Advanced cancer patients in palliative care often go through non-invasive forms of therapy for pain relief and improving quality of life. Patients benefit from both passive and active music therapy, wherein they can listen to or participate in playing their favourite music with a trained therapist. In combining music therapy with neurofeedback, and using the patient’s live EEG signals to change the musical parameters of a song, we can test the effect of neurofeedback and entrainment on patients’ well-being and emotional state. To test the effect of adding an entrainment relaxation session, seven sessions of music therapy were conducted: five sessions for an experimental group which received neurofeedback entrainment, and two sessions for the control group which received passive music therapy without entrainment. A Muse headband device was used to collect EEG data, and a live graphical interface was developed to display the patient’s live arousal level. We then perform a quantitative analysis using the recorded EEG files, calculating arousal and valence levels throughout the sessions to reflect the patient’s emotional state. We also analyze the qualitative data from patient questionnaires and verbal feedback to determine the impact of the session. The contextual analysis of each individual session showed positive results and feedback from the patients. The recorded EEG data showed overall trends of lowered arousal levels in the experimental group, who participated in the entrainment sessions, and higher valence levels in the control group, who received passive music therapy.
Final publication https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3464624